Hi canners. My gf just pickled a batch of garlics and tasted them, but wants to make sure they’re ok.
She’s used an old glass jar sterilised in boiling hot water, with a mixture of white vinegar (acidity 5%), palm sugar, and table salt. No water or dilution of vinegar. She’s made sure to use fresh garlic cloves too. But the jar hasn’t been sealed beyond just really tightening it, and she’s left it at room temp for 2-3 weeks before eating.
Pic refers. Is this safe from, for e.g., botulism? The end result smells slightly garlicky and tastes normal, w/ no mushiness or sliminess.
Thanks for any help you can muster!
by min_min
5 Comments
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Wrong sub, you want r/fermentation. This is potentially safe, with a big question about what the weight of salt and/or vinegar is vs. the total.
And because this comes up a lot, garlic turning blue or green is fine.
No.
At best this would be a recipe for the refrigerator.
Canning something isn’t just mixing it up and reusing an old jar, which is what appears to have happened here. She really needs to use a tested, safe recipe.
What to know about botulism: It is less likely to develop in high-acid environments in the presence of oxygen. That said, foods left unrefrigerated could develop other types of spoilage more quickly than if they were kept cold.
While a quick-pickle method for refrigerator storage exists (with fresh garlic or onions), that’s not what was done here and I don’t know if this would be considered a proper fermented food.
Here’s Washington Extension Agency instructions for making a shelf-stable pickled garlic, and info from the CDC about botulism:
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/food/preservation/preserving-garlic-sp-50-645
https://www.cdc.gov/botulism/general.html
https://foodsafety.ces.ncsu.edu/2020/04/how-to-make-quick-refrigerator-pickles/
long time fermenter and canner person here, and what she has made *might* be okay but there’s no real way to know outside of testing with lab equipment. we don’t use vinegar to ferment veg…only salt and water. she has made a quick pickle, and it should have been refrigerated and allowed to sit for several days for best flavor (although i’m sure it would be delicious after only a few hours, the flavor will develop more with a little time)