Homemade dill pickles question

BeeBop said:

My mom makes them every summer. I have a couple jars in the pantry, made in
summer 06. They are sealed, of course. Now, how long are they good for?
How do I know if they aren't good anymore? I just opened a jar, and they
are of course, delicious, and I HATE pickles, except for Mom's. And once a
jar is opened, how long does it usually keep in the fridge?

Also, can you get botulism from homemade dill pickles? I am wondering if I
should let my 2 year old son eat them.

Thanks!

~C

The salt in pickles makes them safe as long as properly sealed and then
refrigerated. They are good at least a year and not dangerous after
that, but lose texture and are not quite as yummy.

If he likes them, let him have them.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

BeeBop said:

My mom makes them every summer. I have a couple jars in the pantry, made in
summer 06. They are sealed, of course. Now, how long are they good for?
How do I know if they aren't good anymore? I just opened a jar, and they
are of course, delicious, and I HATE pickles, except for Mom's. And once a
jar is opened, how long does it usually keep in the fridge?

Also, can you get botulism from homemade dill pickles? I am wondering if I
should let my 2 year old son eat them.

If the pickles were bad, you'd know.

Just eat them and stop being a worry wart.

-sw

BeeBop said:

My mom makes them every summer. I have a couple jars in the pantry, made in
summer 06. They are sealed, of course. Now, how long are they good for?
How do I know if they aren't good anymore? I just opened a jar, and they
are of course, delicious, and I HATE pickles, except for Mom's. And once a
jar is opened, how long does it usually keep in the fridge?

Also, can you get botulism from homemade dill pickles? I am wondering if I
should let my 2 year old son eat them.

Any home canning is risky business. Canned pickles can definitely be
contaminated with botulism... and you cannot detect botulism by odor,
sight, taste, or texture. I wouldn't recommend consuming home canned
pickles older than two years (published food storage charts recommend
one year, but they tend to over engineer, use your own judgement).
Personally I don't consume any home canned foods other than jams/
jellies, and then only from people I know can be trusted to know what
they're doing.

http://extension.missouri.edu/xplor/hesguide/foodnut/gh1457.htm

[excerpt]
For safety's sake
The level of acid in a pickled product is as important to its safety
as it is to its taste and texture.

Do not change the amounts of vinegar, food or water in a recipe. Don't
use a vinegar with unknown acidity. Don't use homemade vinegar.
Only use recipes with tested amounts of ingredients.
There must be enough acid in the mixed product to prevent the growth
of botulinum bacteria. If botulinum bacteria grow inside jars, they
can produce the toxin that causes botulism, an often fatal form of
food poisoning.
---

Sheldon

In article <4wIfi.10719$tB5.8016@edtnps90>,

BeeBop' yeah said:

My mom makes them every summer. I have a couple jars in the pantry, made in
summer 06. They are sealed, of course. Now, how long are they good for?

Longer than a year, though they'll lose some crunch.

Quoted message said:

How do I know if they aren't good anymore?

Taste one. If they don't taste good, don't eat them. An off pickle
isn't going to kill you.

Quoted message said:

I just opened a jar, and they are of course, delicious, and I HATE
pickles, except for Mom's.

Better learn to make them yourself; Mom isn't going to be around
forever, donchaknow.

Quoted message said:

And once a jar is opened, how long does it usually keep in the
fridge?

A long time.

Quoted message said:

Also, can you get botulism from homemade dill pickles?

Nope. You get botulism from *low-acid* foods. You don't get it from
pickles.

Quoted message said:

am wondering if I should let my 2 year old son eat them.

Bad idea. He might like them a lot and then you'd have to be sharing
all the time! Unless you got sneaky about eating then when he wasn't
around. Then after a while you'd have a guilty conscience. You'd
probably wind up in a severe depression over the guilt, maybe even
suicidal. No, I thinkj it's best ‹ safest, even ‹ if you don't give
them to your little muffin. "-)

Quoted message said:

Thanks!

You're welcome. Also, rec.food.preserving would be the better place for
this discussion. Lots of knowledgeable folks over there.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com - story and
pics of Ronald McDonald House dinner posted 6-24-2007

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:37:04 GMT, "BeeBop" <yeah,[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

My mom makes them every summer. I have a couple jars in the pantry, made in
summer 06. They are sealed, of course. Now, how long are they good for?
How do I know if they aren't good anymore? I just opened a jar, and they
are of course, delicious, and I HATE pickles, except for Mom's. And once a
jar is opened, how long does it usually keep in the fridge?

Also, can you get botulism from homemade dill pickles? I am wondering if I
should let my 2 year old son eat them.

Thanks!

~C

C. Botulinum spores can only produce toxin if the pH is higher than
4.6 (i.e - low acid) and there is no oxygen present. If the pickles
are made with vinegar, the pH is probably low enough. If they are
traditional dill pickles - that is to say fermented - then the
fermentation process produces enough acid.

There is no way of testing for botulin toxin at home other than
eatiing it and subsequently being hospitalized - it's really bad and
it doesn't take much. I strongly recommend following USDA guidelines
for pickling and canning. U of GA has a very good food preserving
site done under contract with USDA.

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

That said, I enjoy fermenting and canning kraut and hope I have enough
cukes this year to ferment a batch of kosher dills.

I second the suggestion to learn how to do it yourself.

- Mark

Quoted message said:

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:37:04 GMT, "BeeBop" <yeah,[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Also, can you get botulism from homemade dill pickles? I am wondering if I
should let my 2 year old son eat them.

Quoted message said:

C. Botulinum spores can only produce toxin if the pH is higher than
4.6 (i.e - low acid) and there is no oxygen present. If the pickles
are made with vinegar, the pH is probably low enough. If they are
traditional dill pickles - that is to say fermented - then the
fermentation process produces enough acid.

There is no way of testing for botulin toxin at home other than
eatiing it and subsequently being hospitalized - it's really bad and
it doesn't take much.

BeeBop was asking about whether an infant 2 or younger should eat
the pickles. There, you have the concern that even if there is no
botulin toxin, the botulism spores themselves can sicken the infant.
(This doesn't happen to older children or adults.) So it's not clear
to me the low acid environment makes it safe in this case.

Steve

Thanks everyone for your input!

DS loves the pickles, and Mom assured me they are fine. They are the same
ones she's made for the past 45 years, lol.

I *might* learn how to make them, but for the 1 or 2 jars of dills I eat in
a year (DH likes sweet pickles, and those disgust me) it would probably be a
waste of time. My sis makes them, so I can always steal a jar or two from
her.

~C

"Steve Pope" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:37:04 GMT, "BeeBop" <yeah,[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Also, can you get botulism from homemade dill pickles? I am wondering if
I
should let my 2 year old son eat them.

Quoted message said:

C. Botulinum spores can only produce toxin if the pH is higher than
4.6 (i.e - low acid) and there is no oxygen present. If the pickles
are made with vinegar, the pH is probably low enough. If they are
traditional dill pickles - that is to say fermented - then the
fermentation process produces enough acid.

There is no way of testing for botulin toxin at home other than
eatiing it and subsequently being hospitalized - it's really bad and
it doesn't take much.

BeeBop was asking about whether an infant 2 or younger should eat
the pickles. There, you have the concern that even if there is no
botulin toxin, the botulism spores themselves can sicken the infant.
(This doesn't happen to older children or adults.) So it's not clear
to me the low acid environment makes it safe in this case.

Steve

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 06:02:07 -0700, Sheldon <[email hidden]>
magnanimously proffered:

Quoted message said:

BeeBop said:

My mom makes them every summer. I have a couple jars in the pantry, made in
summer 06. They are sealed, of course. Now, how long are they good for?
How do I know if they aren't good anymore? I just opened a jar, and they
are of course, delicious, and I HATE pickles, except for Mom's. And once a
jar is opened, how long does it usually keep in the fridge?

Also, can you get botulism from homemade dill pickles? I am wondering if I
should let my 2 year old son eat them.

Any home canning is risky business.

I've been wondering if poor reading comprehension might be one of your
problems ... and here you go and prove it.

The OP was clearly talking about pickles in jars. Pickles in jars that
have been bottled, not canned. Whether you know it or not, there IS a
difference, Sheldon.

--

una cerveza mas por favor ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In article <Kn1gi.11260$tB5.6270@edtnps90>,

BeeBop' yeah said:

Thanks everyone for your input!

DS loves the pickles, and Mom assured me they are fine. They are the same
ones she's made for the past 45 years, lol.

I *might* learn how to make them, but for the 1 or 2 jars of dills I eat in
a year (DH likes sweet pickles, and those disgust me) it would probably be a
waste of time. My sis makes them, so I can always steal a jar or two from
her.

Quoted message said:

~C

A couple things, C. That she's been doing them the same way for 45
years doesn't necessarily make it okay. The other thing: Don't steal
them from your sister -- ask her nicely or bribe her. '-) And even if
you don't make the pickles yourself, get the recipe while you can!!

The U of GA hosts the National Center for Home Food Preservation and
there's a plethora of information about safe processing there about the
topic www.uga.edu/nchfp.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com - story and
pics of Ronald McDonald House dinner posted 6-24-2007