[Homestead] opinions wanted...salt or ascorbic acid
Bill Jones
billj at harborside.com
Sat Sep 2 19:05:44 EDT 2006
SISU! wrote:
>Okay canners of the world, which do you think works better to protect
>fruits like pears from discoloration, a salt solution or an ascorbic
>acid (like lemon juice) solution?
>
>Bev
>
>
From the beginning, I've used salt and vinegar to soak apple slices for
drying. I just add both to the water until it barely tastes salty and
sour. The ingredients are certainly low-tech. I only did it because I
read about it somewhere, but the apple slices come out delicious and
light-colored. The store-bought ones are puke by comparison. I think
any acid prevents discoloration by deactivating enzymes, but vinegar has
the extra virtue of evaporating away completely. The purpose of the
salt is different. It's like the saline solution in an IV drip. Pure
water draws flavors and sugars out of a cell by osmosis, so providing
some dissolved solutes in the soaking water equalizes things, and the
juices stay put.
Bill
S. Oregon coast
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