Calcium chloride or the old fashioned way - pickling lime. Best I can find out they discontinued it because of low demand.

Dave

Really, it is gone ?? I had not heard that.
I better find some fast.

goodman's still list it as in stock
http://www.goodmans.net/item.asp?n=BL-72400&k=BL-72400&sc=FRGL
so does canning pantry
http://www.canningpantry.com/ball-pickle-crisp.html
Mrs. Wages makes several kinds of pickle seasoning mixes -- I do not know if they have a pickle crisp. Kay

Canning Pantry lists it but then when you try to order it says Out of Stock and no more will be available. Goodman's listing is for the Dill Pickle Mix not the Pickle Crisp. Searched there and all you get is redirected to Amazon which also says Out of Stock.

Dave

The site I liked to recently still has this as their own bulk product. Its not cheap and you DO have to pay shipping. Its the same as calcium chloride used in ice melting (the little white beads). But that version is unsafe for foods however. The link below has several sizes and usually requires about 1.5 teaspoons of it per quart. PC has a small granule size, and this product is a bit larger granule. So, you would use 2 teaspoons of it per quart of pickles. I like adding it to the empty jars first, as it 'fizzes' when hit by vinegar. Works very well and has improved the shelf life of vinegar based pickles, as well as hep to hold the shape a little longer for whole tomatoes.
Hope you find it! If so, be sure to get enough! It will not spoil and will only degrade if left open to air, where it soaks up moisture. Storing it in a plainly sealed canning jar is a good way to keep it stable.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bulk foods

I'm sure I saw Pickling Lime at Wal*Mart about 2 weeks ago. It was a WM Superstore. They also have Mr Wage's pickling products. I bought some Dill and Bread and Butter mix.

I am sure glad that I stocked up last fall at the end of the season and bought 6 full boxes of pickle crisp. Not just to make it last lol.

Stacie
girlsingardens

Remember there is a critical difference between lime and Pickle Crisp or its chemical equivalent. Lime isn't placed in the jars. It's used in the pre-soak and then thoroughly rinsed out with at least three washes of the cucumbers (or watermelon rind for pickle, etc.).

If there's a pickling lime residue it can elevate the pH of the pickles, compromising the safety of the product.

Carol

Not that it will do any good, but I emailed them just the same.

I don't think Mrs. Wages offers the Pickle Crisp type product. They DO offer pickling lime as mentioned above, but thats a nasty stuff today that is much more time consuming and has been unpopular for several years now due to the PC. Pickling lime requires all the cukes to be washed well, soaked in a 'non dissolved soup' of pickling lime wixed with water. They are then in the fridge for 1-2 days, then rinsed, washed, rinsed, washed rinsed, washed rinsed and washed agian many times, to get all that lime off. Then comes the scouring of the containers the stuff was in. If its stainless steel its been dulled by the lime which requires steal wool to remove. My use for the several boxes of lime are now just for garden use to raise soil pH. If most all of the residual lime isn't removed, it settles to the bottom of the brine filled jars and is a cloud when shaken.. ugh!

Again, BULK FOODS has this and is the MOST RELIABLE source right now, if you have searched in vain ans cannot find it elsewhere.

Ever tried looking for rock salt in summer, just for making ice cream??

I just picked up 2 boxes of Pickle Crisp. They were $2.38 each. They were at a store called Bi-Mart, In Florence, OR. (I'm not sure, but I think they are only located in the pacific n. west.)

They had at least a couple dozen boxes left on the shelf.

Lynn

Did a heavy duty web search for it today and I think I hit most all possible sources. All are saying no longer available. Perhaps we need to try another of our mass letters to the manufacturer campaigns?

Dave

WA WA WA.. BULK FOODS!!

lynn ... be sure to check the use by date
I bought "store-closing" box last year and imagine my surprise when I discovered this spring that it had expired two years ago. I'm not too sure what in there that would make it go bad, but I've been around this forum too long to take much of a chance on anything. Kay

Yup Ken - ordered their calcium chloride...among other things. ;)

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Calcium Chloride

My note about granular size being a little bigger too. Its not hard to add that extra amount. FYI. Did you know that its used with a little water and sprayed on airplanes to prevent icing in the air. I keep mine in a good air tight jar, as if its left open it soaks up moisture overnight. Ahd some of it as ice melter in the garage. A few days later in the open plastic pail and it was a clear liquid, that didnt even evaporate!

Love that that BUlK foods place, even if its a bit expensive for shipping. PC in a little box, with a few packets just gets you a couple of batchs of pickles at best. The amount I bought last year will last a long time and calculated out to be about 1/3 the cost.

Kayskats,

The "use by" date on my Pickle Crisp is 05-2010.

I guess I need to pick up a few more boxes next time.

Lynn

Way under stated expdate. If its still tiny granules 10 yera from now its fine. They pack several small amounts in seperate plstic packets in each box. I just put my bulk stuff in a quart Ball jar, and its had no clumps at all. Right now, it may be hard to find, due to the activity, but if you REALLY want the BALL PC product and like the pretty little colorful box its packed in, then go for it..

FYI, the source below also has the following Pomona pectin products, even in small and large bulk sizes:

http://www.canningpantry.com/pectin.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Canning pantry

ksrogers - thank you SO much for the link. I've got it bookmarked and will get some ordered this weekend. I really, really love this Forum - y'all are a great bunch!!

Your very welcome. Its people like you who are always a joy to assist. Don't you feel like you have just made a new friend here? I wish you luck with PC and, must say that I had started using it wnen Ball first introduced almost 5 years ago. No one here had heard of it before, as was the case of the 'modified' food starch called Clear Gel. Now, both are favorites for many people and this year the Pomona pectin, which has always proven it worth.

Take care.

Just an FYI for those who have no Pickle Crisp, but instead, have the generic version. Here is a photo of the back of the PC box, so you can see the amounts needed. The meausre of 1 1/2 teaspoons per quart of PC should be increased to TWO teaspoons of the generic version from Bulk Foods. This increase is due to a larger granule size. There is alo a mention of a presoak in PC, and that might also work wll, compared to. Each packet in the PC box contains enough PC for about 5 quarts of pickles. The weight is 26 grams each packet. The use of a whole PC packet mixed into a gallon of water equates to about to about 8 teaspoons of the calcium chloride per gallon of the generic version.

Oops forgot the photo..

{{gwi:908241}}

I called Jarden- the multi national corporation that took over Ball, Bernardin etc. to ask about no more pickle crisp and why.
First... I thought you'd like to know who else they bought up- since a lot of us harvest forum members use products by Oster, and Seal a meal, Crockpot, Villaware etc.

"Jarden Corporation is a leading provider of niche consumer products used in and around the home. Jarden operates in three primary business segments through a number of well recognized brands, including:

Branded Consumables: Ball®, Bee®, Bicycle®, Crawford®, Diamond®, Dicon®, First Alert®, Forster®, Hoyle®, Java Log®, Kerr®, Lehigh®, Leslie-Locke®, Loew-Cornell® and Pine Mountain®;

Consumer Solutions: Bionaire®, Crock-Pot®, FoodSaver®, Harmony®, Health o meter®, Holmes®, Mr. Coffee®, Oster®, Patton®, Rival®, Seal-a-Meal®, Sunbeam®, VillaWare® and White Mountain®;

and Outdoor Solutions: Abu Garcia®, Berkley®, Campingaz®, Coleman®, Fenwick®, Gulp!®, JT®, K2®, Marker®, Marmot®, Mitchell®, Penn®, Rawlings®, Shakespeare®, Sevylor®, Stearns®, Stren®, Trilene® and Volkl®.

Headquartered in Rye, N.Y., Jarden has over 25,000 employees worldwide. Jarden Corporation is ranked #492 on the FORTUNE 500 list of America's largest corporations."

Whew! Yet they can't make a few pickle makers happy.
Anyway, the rep I talked to was very pleasant. She told me that they no longer sold it because "some people had complained of stomach/digestive problems using it in home canning". She told me Mrs. Wages had actually manufactured it for them. (Maybe I misunderstood that- it made no sense to me since it was packaged by Ball/Jarden). She told me that "it can still be purchased through canning pantry dot com." (Tho' from the posts above it appears they no longer have it and the only source seems to be Ken's bulk food online store link.)

All I know is I used it last year and got crisper veggie pickles for the first time ever. I bought a dozen boxes last year. When I run out I'll get it from Ken's bulk link.

Rebecca

I had already mentioned that Jarden has Oster, Sunbeam, and even Seal A Meal to add to their Foodsaver, and Bicycle cards.
Me, too. I have 5 boxes of PC left, but also have a quart jar of the granulated bulk foods product. I saw no upset stomach, but suspect that whoever had any stomach problems it may have been due to poor canning processes. A 50% water 50% vinegar ratio is not safe. A couple of years ago, Ball came out with several small packet type mixes for the person who only want to make a jar or two. These unique ones were not seen on the market, but instead ended up at Big Lots. I have a few of these mixes too, and would only use them for a single jar or something pickled and then refrigerated. At least Mrs Wages still offers several good choices for making pickles, ans several other canned items. Intersting to note that Mrs. Wages Quick Process dills cslls for a LOT more water than vinegar, but they do tell you to refigerate.

Well this certainly explains why I couldn't find PC. Thank you Ken!

has anyone used pickle crisp for canning peppers? Canned some beatiful jars only to find out they are really mushy.
thanks

Peppercrazy1,
Yes, picke crisp can be used in peppers if hey are pickled in vinegar. In fact, they use it comercially in whole tomatoes in cans.

Here is the same info I provided to you in your email:

Because I use a higher power vacuum pump, and also use the Food Saver canning jar adapter, as well as large vacuum tight canisters from Food Saver. My process as mentioned in may posts sine 2 years ago has gone very well. I pickle the very thin pepperoncini peppers which are very thin and delicate. If I were to use ANY heat when canning these, they will turn to mush very quickly. The process involves piercing each pepper, and cutting off the crown tops and stems. I make up a full strength (5%) vinegar and add salt to my taste. The peppers get place in a gallon sized FS canister, which has a knob on top to seal or vent, as well as a fitting to pull the vacuum. My pump is a dual diaphragm type, with a large capacity moisture trap to prevent the corrosive brine from getting into the pump. The FS rectangular canister was used at one time , but even though they are quite thick and rugged , I had cracked 4 of them. It was because my pump is very powerful. I DO NOT use the Food saver pump, but ONLY its hose (attachment) and the round canisters, as well as adapter that attaches to the canning jars. The adapters make a seal below the threads where there is a glass bead that the adapter 's O ring makes the seal. a canning lid is placed inside the adapter, and once I do a final filling of brine, I pull the vacuum again and then remove the hose attachment from the top of the adapter. What this does s to pull in s 'slug' of air, which immediately forces the lid onto the vacuumed jar. The vacuum is MUCH stronger than a regular canning would do. I also use this to help with dried herbs, as they too get placed in caning jars.

Hey Ken, you might have done too good a job getting the word out about the source for PC replacement. They just called me and said it was out of stock.

I wonder if the cook top you recommended is out of stock too. You really should be getting a cut of the profits.lol

Its home canning time, and these same items have been mentioned and discussed for the last few years. The Mrs. Wages Dill Pickle Mix is next to be out of stock. Canning Pantry had some left, as I just bought six of the 9 ounce packets that make up to 10 quarts of dills each. Same issue with the Roma, Weston, Villaware, Victorio, Squeezo, Back To Basics, and so many other names is still a good food strainer. When something works, stay with it. By the way, I DO NOT OWN one of those Northern Tool 3 ring burners!! Cant do canning oustide. But was impressed by the design. Bulk Foods has been a favorite of mine for years, and 'I put a bug in their ear', a while back about the calcium chloride and expensive Ball Pickle Crisp. As you can see I am well ahead of the crowd when it comes to 'neato' things ans gadgets. If you saw me just to up a batch of dill pickles in less than an hour, you would be impressed.

PS: You may be able to get a larger quantity of the CC from Bulk Foods. It stores VERY well in sealed Ball quart jars. No exp. date, on it unless it solidifies, and by that time you know its not tightly sealed.

I would like to try the Mrs. Wages Dill Pickle Mix, but my pickling cucumbers aren't doing much yet. Can you use it with sliced long greens or zucchini? Does it have the CC already in it?

Your pantry must be a sight to behold at the end of the season!

Pantry?? Ha! Mine measures one foot by one foot square and five feet tall!! Thats all the space it had, until I added some shelving around the kitchen. All my canning is on six metal shelving in my basement. I have 6 foot tall shelves and each holds anywhere from 16 to 25 boxes of 12 jars each. Need to get more shelves set up!

No, Pickle Crisp was a Ball product and Mrs. Wages does not have that in its mixes. I like the Mrs Wages 'quick process' dill mix. The bigger pouch is a bit over 9 ounces, and has just the favors of dill and garlic, salt, and a bit of tumeric, plus a trace of alum. Its mixed with water only to make my half sours, or the regular way with boiling vinegar. I keep the vinegar to water ratio above 85% vinegar, so they be very safe. If you need PC, get it from Bulk Foods, but they are out right now. I would expect it would be available very soon again. Additionally, I add several dill seed heads, both brown and green, as well as lots of garlic cut into small pieces.
A spray of liquid kelp and water on the cuke foliage can get them going. Also, I use an organic product called 'Messenger', which is a naturally occuring culture that makes plants 'think' they are under stress and speeds up maturity. Its been a real help or my cukes, as they are really getting big and fast. One day at 3-4 inches, same cuke the next day, 5-6 inches. If just one gets missed from picking, it can slow all the others down, if it gets bigger than pickling size. One of my plants has FIVE cukes all at the same branch!! All are small , but I have never seen a cluster of five all close together like a bunch of grapes. Mrs. Wags still offers pickling lime, but thats a real pain to deal with.

I would never use those dark green cukes for pickling. They have just too much water and the skins are tougher. You would end up with a very mushy pickle.

Here is a link that might be useful: Another source for Calcium Chloride

Thanks for the info Ken. How do you find time to sleep during canning season. To put up that much you must can in your sleep too. lol

Ha, sleep, whats that?? I was up at 6am picking cukes this morning. Now you can see how much time I spend here giving advice to those who need it. That recent source I suppled was impressive. They sell a lOT of unusual additives and food chemicals not easily found elswhere. Anyone wanting to make ice cream, and seem to always have icy texture, they sell a Stabil product that prevents icy frozen treats.

Does anyone still want Ball Pickle Crisp? If so I have quite a few left. Just email me at lukgenes@localnet.com and we'll take it from there...

Here is a link that might be useful: Ball Pickle Crisp

Thanks for this great information, I just discovered this site and became a member. I too was horrified to find that PC was no longer in stock! So I did what you suggested and went to bulk foods and ordered Calcium Chloride from them. Do you have a suggestion for how much to put in each jar? Looking forward to being in these forums and all the wonderful experienced information I have found!

This previous thread has the info you need.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Calcium Chloride in Pickles

I found Pickle Crisp at TSC (tractor supply) yesterday after spending all day looking for pickling lime. Glad I bought 2 jars and to learn that it works!

I bought two jars online at amazon.

Found it at Lowe's in Wheeling, WV at a Ball Display

I bought some pickling lime for my future pickles. Should I get some pickle crisp instead?

I'm feeling a little lost. I went to the NCHFP and read up on how to make pickles and they discuss the lime in their bread and butter pickle recipe. I don't think I saw anything about pickle crisp.

I just ordered the Ball Blue Book, maybe that will help.

Before I ever knew about Pickle Crisp, I did what the ole timers always recommended, and that is to include in the jar a black currant leaf, a grape leaf, or a horseradish leaf. I had always done that, when I could come up with a leaf, when I was making normal quick pickles before PC. I'm kinda sold on fermenting after my experience last year, and it really doesn't call for the PC kind of solution to quick pickles.

No you won't find Pickle Crisp in any fermenting recipes. Fermenting is a totally different process from pickling. It can be used when canning fermented pickles but may alter the taste.

Lucille - sorry didn't mean to cause confusion. Yes, there are still many recipes around that include lime, usually for specific types of pickles. It isn't that they are unapproved or anything or that using lime is "banned". But is now considered "optional".

It is just that research and new things like Pickle Crisp and ice pre-soaks make it unnecessary. And when used, warnings about the safety aspects of using lime were changed - multiple rinses, avoid inhaling, avoid skin contact, etc. And it was removed from some of the approved recipes (just as the old alum recommendation was removed).

For example, in the B&B recipe notice the preferred method is now the salt/ice soak not the lime method and that if you do use the lime it stresses the need for multiple rinses, avoid inhaling, etc. etc. So many have gone to using just the ice soak (I do mine overnight) and then just adding 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. of Pickle Crisp to each quart jar.

NCHFP, nor Ball AFAIK although that may change, do not push Pickle Crisp. They just let you know it is an option available and approved for use per its label directions. But if you prefer to use lime instead that's your choice.

Dave

I do not necessarily want to use lime, it is just that the NCHFP bread and butter recipe did not even mention Pickle Crisp and I am afraid to add or change anything to a recipe. Pickle Crisp sounds easier(and I bought some). I just today got my Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving and it does talk about Pickle Crisp. I think I am going to take several hours tomorrow to look through this book.

One thing I did notice is that for some of the pickle recipes they specify the Ball Mixed Pickling Spice. But some of the recipes also specify the individual spices which I bought.

I've decided that for safety I am not going to vary a recipe at all whatsoever, because I don't know what is included for taste and what is included for safety.

I have a question and didn't see an answer although I did a search here: is there a minimum number of jars to a canning load? I'm going to do my first canning soon but I don't feel confident to do a huge number of jars, I thought maybe 6 pints might be a good number to start with?

Thanks.

" is there a minimum number of jars to a canning load? I'm going to do
my first canning soon but I don't feel confident to do a huge number of
jars, I thought maybe 6 pints might be a good number to start with?"

Pressure canning or BWB?

With pressure canning generally doing at least a couple of trial runs with just jars of water is recommended to get use to how the canner works and the steps involved. We usually recommend adding food coloring to your water for the trial runs so you can see if you are getting any siphoning as the color then shows up in the water in the canner.

There is no minimum required. It is just a more efficient use of time and electrical/gas energy to do a full batch at a time. But you can do one jar if you want.

Dave

PS: Pickle Crisp is like salt and sugar in many recipes - optional but not required - and its only effect is firming of the cukes when firm pickles are desired. It is nothing more than calcium chloride so no safety issues arise.

I found some at Freds, if you have one of those around you.

Most Walmart stores in Rural areas carry it around here. Ace hardware will special order it for you if you ask them or you can order it online and they will deliver it to your store.