Check your vinegar

[Tootsie]

I saw this message on another forum, and thought I’d share. Might be helpful to some. I don’t think I might have noticed the ‘new’ label.

 

[Buffalo]

Well that's good to know. Instead of shrinkflation on vinegar, they are just diluting it with more water. Thanks for sharing this!

 

[Patchouli]

@Tootsie I wonder why they’d do that. So everyone’s pickling harvest goes bad? New guv mandate to vinegar companies?Are there any particular brands that are still dependable? Or just being cheap?

 

[Buffalo]

@Tootsie I wonder why they’d do that. So everyone’s pickling harvest goes bad? New guv mandate to vinegar companies?Are there any particular brands that are still dependable? Or just being cheap?

I'm guessing it's more along the lines of inflation. If they dilute the vinegar to 4% acidity, the can sell you a gallon for the same price as it's always been. At 5%, the stores would have to bump the price up.

 

[Tootsie]

I don’t know why the acidity level is being lowered. A quick google says that acidity stays the same unless water is added or moisture plays a part. So, it must be profit driven. I don’t care to call the company, because an hour on the phone would probably result in no answer anyway. Less than 5% isn’t safe for canning. I hope that no one gets hurt over bad product. So, the best that we can do, I think, is share the heck out of the information with people. And, leave the 4% on the shelf. Maybe stock up on the 5%.

 

[Tommyice]

There always has been a lower acidity vinegar available. A few years back I got gallon of 4% my brother had accidentally picked up instead of 5% for his canning. I used in cleaning and dressings.

I agree with @Buffalo that it has a lot to do with economics.

 

[dademoss]

As always, follow the money, water is cheap.

 

[Patchouli]

I've been using vinegar to clean the drains so i don't guess the strength, 4 or 5% would matter too much in that application, combined with baking soda. I looked at some vinegar labels at the store today but didn't see anything about percentages.

 

[Dani]

@Tootsie I wonder why they’d do that. So everyone’s pickling harvest goes bad? New guv mandate to vinegar companies?Are there any particular brands that are still dependable? Or just being cheap?

Seem like us canners are outdated, but people still use vinegar for cleaning.

 

[Shawn Burkett]

There has to be some way to figure out a safe way to use it. My canning book has pickle recipes that also call for water. It seems like they could still be used with less water - if you knew how to figure it out. The recipes that use only vinegar wouldn't be able to be used. Unless it could be boiled down and made into 5%. That would be a pain in the neck though. Fortunately my vinegar is 5% so I don't have to worry about it this year.

 

[Magus]

https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-to-increase-the-acidity-of-vinegar/
https://www.fluther.com/177829/how-do-you-increase-the-acidity-of-vinegar/
And because I love you guys, I'll save you the popup jungle:

Concentrating acetic acid from vinegar​

Vinegar seems to kill poison ivy or at least severely stunt their leaves. I am trying to increase the concentration of acetic acid and I put a bottle of vinegar in the freezer. I have looked at it and it has turned cloudy. I'm thinking if I poured this through a coffee filter I should be filtering out solid acetic acid. I might do this in the freezer because it might take some time. Does anyone think this will work? I might be getting water ice instead. Either way I would be separating the two. I could repeat this step and concentrate it further. Would I not really be filtering out anything? On another blog someone suggested buying aluminum acetate which has more acetic in it instead, but this might not be as effective.





Yes, you are freezing out acetic acid, which has a melting point of 17C and your freezer is probably on the order of -10C. Your plan to filter it should give you very concentrated acetic acid, which could be a safety hazard. I would read this and this before planning how to proceed. You will probably want to dilute the acetic acid by about 3 parts water to one part AA. Note that this is not going to be an efficient solution and some AA will be left unfrozen in solution.
– airhuff
Apr 23, 2017 at 18:08
Thank you for your answer. I had bought a small bottle of lab grade acetic acid once which was pretty high %. I have experience working with this. Besides my throat has gotten more sensitive to things than it once was. I know to keep stuff like this at a distance. I used to keep the bottle in the bottom cabinet of a camper trailer and it would get down to the 20s sometimes. With that concentration it would look like it turned to gel or a chunk of ice in liquid at much higher temperature than that-much like the name glacial acetic acid.
– discountbrainsurgery
Apr 23, 2017 at 19:12

 

[Weedygarden]

I saw this message on another forum, and thought I’d share. Might be helpful to some. I don’t think I might have noticed the ‘new’ label.

I have been shopping for vinegar and thought, from my memory of reading this, that it was supposed to be 7%. I had to come and check this to see if I was wrong about the acidity. I was.