Pickle crisp expiration

8 years ago

I posted this question the other day, but now I don’t see it anywhere.... I apologize if I missed it and this ends up being a duplicate.

I found a jar of pickle crisp in my cupboard past it’s expiration date by 4 years. Would you guys toss it or use it? If it’s like salt and technically doesn’t go bad, I will disregard the date. It is clumpy though, like it has picked up some moisture. I would have to break it up and be careful measuring as not all of it is in those cute little ‘beads’ any more.

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annie1992

2 years ago

Perhaps it works for other but I tried the grape leaf in the pickles trick about 10 years ago and unfortunately I did not notice a difference in the texture of any of the pickles. I did try both Concord grape leaves and Canadice leaves from my grape arbor, so maybe I need a different kind of grape?

Maybe it's the minerals in my water, maybe it's the cucumbers themselves, maybe it's just me and I want an unrealistic level of "crunch". I've tried the steam canner, the Pickle Crisp, always cut the blossom end off the cucumber. Dried dill, dill weed, dill seed, fresh dill, salt the cukes, don't salt the cukes, use ice, soak in ice water, tried grape leaves, tried horseradish leaves, tried bay leaves. Cukes fresh out of the garden make a little difference, but not enough.

I'll be 70 on my next birthday and I've been canning since I was small enough I needed a chair to stand at the sink peeling tomatoes with Grandma but I've never been able to make a crunchy dill pickle worth a darn, other than those refrigerator pickles. (sigh)

Annie

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Comments (11)

digdirt2
8 years ago
If I could break it up enough to get a fairly accurate measurement I'd use it. What's the worst that could happen - softer pickles?

Dave
KSprairie
Original Author
8 years ago
True! :) I once misread the quantity and added too much and it ruined the pickles. I think if I break it up and still have small pieces it should measure fine. If it is more powdery, I probably need to cut it back just a bit. Thanks!!
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matthias_lang
8 years ago
If you have a decent scale, you could measure by weight. I just measured a "rounded 1/4 teaspoon" which is recommended on the label for a quart. It weighs one gram.
KSprairie
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you! That helps a lot. I need to buy another jar, but should really use this one up first. I broke some of it in chunks the other day and it picked up moisture from the air and their was actually liquid at the bottom of the bowl. it’s been humid here, but I didn’t expect that!
matthias_lang
8 years ago
KSprairie, you know Pickle Crisp is calcium chloride, which is the same stuff sold for absorbing humidity from closets and basements, not to mention for melting ice on sidewalks. Ah, I get to use one of my favorite words, "deliquescent." A deliquescent substance will attract so much water from the air that it will dissolve in the attracted water.

My own jar of PC is loose on the top and getting hard beneath. I think I might put it inside a second tight jar (jar with in a jar) with a few sacrificial balls of PC to absorb the water in the air inside the outer jar. I have hardly even gotten to use any of the PC before it has started absorbing water!
KSprairie
Original Author
8 years ago
I have used some from my older jar for 4-5 years without it ever clumping. This newly opened jar was clumped when I opened it. I guess we can tell it’s doing the job intended. :) and no, I didn’t realize it was the same stuff used for melting ice, I never thought about it! I should have though.

I like your jar within a jar idea, I will do that as well.
Debbie Hanson
3 years ago
I have an out dated jar of pickle crisp granules that's never been opened. Looks like the day I purchased it, no clumps at all. It is optional in my pickled okra recipe so I am going ahead and use it.

Since it says optional in the recipe I don't see an issue?
matthias_lang
3 years ago
Yes, Debbie Hanson, I would absolutely use it.
annie1992
3 years ago
I wouldn't hesitate to use it either, although it is my understanding that calcium chloride will degrade with time and so it may not work as well as it might if it were fresh. Truthfully, I haven't seen much difference in the "crispness" of my pickles with vs without Pickle Crisp, all my pickles are softer than I would like after processing and Pickle Crisp doesn't seem to help that.

As a result, I make Refrigerator Dill Pickles, Linda Lou's 10 day sweet pickles and a pickled pepper recipe that calls for lime, those all manage to stay crisp for me. Bread and Butter pickles aren't really supposed to be very crisp, so those are also in my rotation. I've canned pickles for 60 years or so and they are never very crunchy, so that's probably not going to change, LOL.

Annie
Tina Mama G Richmond
2 years ago
If you use a grape leaf in your pickles they will be crunchy. Been canning for over 30yrs now and just learned this trick.