Oh man, I hope dig dirt or the others answer.

I would not dump them out. I would water bath can them with a fresh brine and then they would be shelf stable.

If not, you could put them in the fridge.

Do you remember the ratio of vinegar to water you used for the brine?

I used the Ball pickle mixes.

Very few canners use the mixes to make pickles so you will have to tell us what the specific instructions on the package were - how much vinegar, how much water, is citric acid listed in the ingredients. did it include how to BWB the pickles or say fridge storage? Also when where these made? How many days ago? And why make so many jars of them when you may not even like the finished pickles? Many don't.

Technically speaking, per the guidelines for safe home canning, yes if they are more than 24 hours old then they need to be tossed since they were never processed. There is air remaining in the jars, no vacuum was created so after 24 hours any bacteria have had time to grow and reproduce. That is why any unprocessed jars have to be refrigerated or frozen. That is true even if you only made 2 jars.

Sure you could dump the jar contents into a pot and re-heat to boiling, re-jar and process them but that would only be possible IF the mix called for straight vinegar and no water to begin with so that they have been sitting in a highly acidic brine. And the end result would be expensive mushy pickles.

Or, if they are less than 24 hours old you can put new lids on them and process them now. If more than 24 hours old then it all depends on how much risk you are willing to live with.

Sadly it may turn out to be a very expensive lesson learned and for lots of pickles that you may not have liked even if done properly.

But we need answers to all these questions to know for sure.

Dave

I use the mixes to be able to get the spices 'right', especially with something new. There are mixes that are for refrigerator pickles that don't get processed. But the others do require processing, and if they are over the 24 hrs (not in frig), I'd throw them out.

Next time, process them. You don't need any fancy canning equipment. As long as you have a pan that is deep enough for the jars plus about 2-3" and a trivet for the bottom, you can waterbath. I use a deep stockpot with a cake cooling rack when I don't want to pull out the bigger equipment. I also have a really old canner than isn't safe for pressure canning, that I use as a WB.

I use the mixes to be able to get the spices 'right',

So do you have one of the Ball packets to post the instructions from?

I was hoping to have a reply from the OP this am about exactly what the ingredients and instructions are on the Ball packets. Heading to the store so will try to find one to read.

Dave

I can't find a label online to read (not typical of my experience of researching labels), and - Ball makes several type pickle mixes and I don't know how the instructions might vary from one to another. The OP hasn't told us yet which....I hope she will.

I use Mrs. Wages packets, Balls are more expensive. I don't have the packet in front of me, but this was what the kosher dill needs. Vinegar, water and package. The package contains citric acid, so the water is higher than the vinegar 1:1 ratio.

Checked all over today at the store and couldn't find any Ball packets, just Mrs. Wages and all of them I read call for processing or fridge storage only.

Like morz8 I dug all over the Ball website and couldn't find any specifics except in their recipe section all the recipes call for either BWB processing or fridge storage.

Their Kosher Dill recipes calls for a 2:1 water to vinegar ratio and the Dill slices calls for 1:1 so I hope they have citric acid in the mix.

Dave

By this time, most of the packets are sold out.

Mrs. Wages does state in their ingredients that citric acid IS included.

I've never seen any mixes, Ball or Mrs Wages that is for anything EXCEPT refrigerator or processing. Only really old-time recipes.

I threw away the packets and I can't seem to find the instructions online. If I recall correctly, it was a 1:1 mixture. I do remember citric acid being an ingredient.

This post was edited by BananaPancakes on Wed, Jul 31, 13 at 20:03

Ok and how many days old are they now and how have they been stored so far? Were any of the 20 jars processed?

Dave

None of the jars were processed, but all of them sealed themselves. We made the majority of them Sunday night and they have been sitting in the fridge. we have one jar left from 2 Sundays ago, but we have been snacking on them so they will be gone soon.

Sunday night puts them way past the safe time for re-processing. So all you can do now is keep them all in the fridge. Storage limit is recommended at 3 months max as listeria can grow even in the fridge. So that means eating alot of pickles up fast.

If you have the freezer space I'd dump several jars into a large freezer container and freeze them. Then when thawed they can be kept in the fridge after you use up some of the jars there.

There just isn't anyway I know of to make them safe for shelf storing now and no way to guarantee how long they will we good to eat either. With that much vinegar and the citric acid you won't have to worry about botulism, just other bacteria and molds so when to toss them will be up to you.

Sorry.

Dave

Thank you for recommending freezing them! I never would have thought of doing that! All of you are so helpful! Thank you so much!

They will be a horrid, watery mess if you freeze them !

The mixes have citric acid added to them.

I would pop the seals, then store in the fridge. Don't keep them sealed.
Next time you know to process.

They will be a horrid, watery mess if you freeze them !

How so? There are any number of similar freezer pickle recipes that work great.

Dave

The freezer pickle recipe has a lot of sugar to keep them firm. In the freezer dill ones, they have oil to do the same.
A regular pickle recipe would have more liquid in them, making them mushy when frozen.
The freezer ones are more "syrupy".

linda lou - why would you advise to pop the seals now? From a standpoint of keeping bacteria out, would it not be preferrable to leave them as is in the fridge 'sealed' (or at least seeming so) until they are used?

eboone, I'm not LindaLou, but on the chance she doesn't see this, I think she would tell you -

botulism bacteria that could form in improperly canned jars of food grows best anaerobically; that means it will grow without air, as in a jar of sealed food. Better to risk normal spoilage over time as you might find in any opened food in your refrigerator - it may be the difference between tummy ache and inconvenience over possible disability or even death.

Since these pickles were not processed, any seal formed by placing the lids over the hot contents would be a weak one and air would remain in the jars.

For that reason I'd think botulism is unlikely. However, unlikely or not, you'd never want to risk it and popping the seals is definitely a wise precaution.

Carol

I think I will just throw them all away. Better safe than sorry.

Thanks everyone.

I think that is a wise decision. Trying to save something that probably shouldn't be salvaged in the first place often only leads to more serious problems.

A hard lesson to learn but at one time or another we have all been in that same boat.

Dave