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I made quick pickles using 3:4 5% vinegar ratio (I know it's often touted as unsafe to use less than 1:1, but I read the 3:4 ratio on an academic resource and I presume it might be safe to go even lower as the brine's pH is still ~2.45 at that ratio [although what matters is if it becomes too neutralized after reacting with an average batch of vegetables, which I have yet to check but the final product still tastes very acidic]) a couple of times, and while they have their own flavor that can work well in some situations, I think I and most people prefer the flavor of lacto-fermented pickles.

So my thought was about using lactic acid instead of vinegar to quickly create a brine that has the right pH with the familiar lacto-flavor. I found a couple of places which sell food-grade lactic acid, but I didn't really find much info from people actually using such a method. What are your thoughts about this?

TLSO
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  • important questions that will affect the answer: 1) how water-permeable is the vegetable? (can the solution get into the vegetable?) 2) how thick is the vegetable? (how much time will it take for the solution to reach the middle?) – pleasePassTheCheese Mar 23 '23 at 15:18
  • @pleasePassTheCheese The vegetables are usually a mix between cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers and cabbage. The cucumbers can be either whole or sliced, but the carrots are cut to strips of about 5mm thickness. – TLSO Mar 23 '23 at 16:19
  • I'd just run the experiment :-) I'd expect texture differences--they'll probably be a little more crisp, as the cell walls might not be breached the way they are in regular fermentation. I wouldn't leave out the normal proportion of salt. – pleasePassTheCheese Mar 23 '23 at 16:31
  • For the sake of flavor expectations, another experiment would be to go with half vinegar and half the amount of lactic acid you would like to use. Check on the flavor and texture every hour until you get a feel for the right amount of time, then answer your own question here! – pleasePassTheCheese Mar 23 '23 at 16:33
  • @pleasePassTheCheese The issue is that there are just a few places I found that sell lactic acid which is supposedly food grade (and still one of them that actually states ingredients mentions Lactic Acid, Calcium Lactate, Silicates. Why the silicates?), and only one is local in some dirty jug (as per the photo on their website). So I'm not sure about ordering this from abroad without solid information. By the way, the standard salt ratio is 2-2.5% by weight of the brine+vegetables, yeah? – TLSO Mar 23 '23 at 17:06
  • the silicate is to prevent caking--to keep it powdery and mixable. it's fine. that salt ratio seems small, but if the quick lacto-pickle is going into the refrigerator instead of aging at room temperature, it should be fine. – pleasePassTheCheese Mar 23 '23 at 17:51
  • @pleasePassTheCheese I guessed it's to prevent caking, but is it actually pH and heat stable? I read differing opinions about its inclusion in more regular food. Salt: I've seen some quick guidelines that mention up to about 5%, but in proportion to the water weight without the vegetables, which might be less accurate as the brine should eventually permeate through the vegetable mass. Either way, the jar is sterilized, the vegetables are boiled for a bit in the brine and the brine itself is already acidic, so the salt ratio probably doesn't matter much in quick pickles (health wise, that is). – TLSO Mar 23 '23 at 18:04
  • sounds good. if you have water, salt, and a live culture that you trust, and sugar, you can make your own lactic acid! generally, let the bacteria go to town on the sugar, reduce the solution to any concentration you want. the salt is in the solution. I'm not in a place where I can do any worthwhile calculations of how much water, salt, and sugar you'd need to start with to end up with a given concentration of salt and lactic acid. maybe someone else here can work that up – pleasePassTheCheese Mar 23 '23 at 18:12
  • @pleasePassTheCheese Hm... Obtaining a clean culture would probably be even more difficult then direct fermentation of vegetables, in addition to getting an accurate estimation of the resulting concentration. Even though it's an interesting idea! – TLSO Mar 24 '23 at 00:24

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