SmokinAl
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Alum expetiment. Hey All, so I made a batch today and decided to run a test on the alum question. I made 4 jars regular, 3 hot (extra hot actually), and 1 regular minus the alum. I figure I'll keep 1 regular and the sans alum about 2 months before I open then do a head-to-head taste test. May enlist my pub crew for a truly independent taste test. I'm not trying to prove anyone right or wrong, I'm just curious ;) So I'll post back in a couple months unless there are recommendations for a change of time table. Oh, these are all in mason jars using the foodsaver jar attachment.
I will be interested to see the results. My pickle recipe has always included alum, but the original recipe was for pickles that were put in a water bath canner & heated. Obviously I don't do that anymore, so if I don't need the alum, then I wouldn't use it. I have not found any references at the USDA that say not to use alum, but maybe I didn't look hard enough. Maybe @bregent can point me to the article!
Al