Here in the US vinegar has been established at 5% acetic acid for
pickling purposes. We look for the USP mark as in 5% USP, that is the
United States Pharmacopoeia mark. Just means that it is a nation wide
standard that makers of vinegars adhere to to ensure safety.

In article >,
George Shirley > wrote:

> Here in the US vinegar has been established at 5% acetic acid for
> pickling purposes. We look for the USP mark as in 5% USP, that is the
> United States Pharmacopoeia mark. Just means that it is a nation wide
> standard that makers of vinegars adhere to to ensure safety.

I don't think there is a standard, George. I've seen some vinegar at 4
percent and 4-1/2 percent; five percent is what American recipes use
for preserving, though.

--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew; sometimes in a pickle."
Pepparkakor particulars posted 11-29-2010;
http://web.me.com/barbschaller

On 2/10/2011 2:50 PM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> In >,
> George > wrote:
>
>> Here in the US vinegar has been established at 5% acetic acid for
>> pickling purposes. We look for the USP mark as in 5% USP, that is the
>> United States Pharmacopoeia mark. Just means that it is a nation wide
>> standard that makers of vinegars adhere to to ensure safety.
>
> I don't think there is a standard, George. I've seen some vinegar at 4
> percent and 4-1/2 percent; five percent is what American recipes use
> for preserving, though.
>
Reread my first line, established at 5% for pickling purposes. There are
a variety of other vinegars that are not suitable for pickling and those
are percentages of acetic acid at less than 5%. I've seen, and used in
chemical plants, 100% acetic acid and have seen 20% USP in markets only
once. Never could figure out what someone's household could do with
vinegar that strong.

In article >, George Shirley
> wrote:

> On 2/10/2011 2:50 PM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> > In >,
> > George > wrote:
> >
> >> Here in the US vinegar has been established at 5% acetic acid for
> >> pickling purposes. We look for the USP mark as in 5% USP, that is the
> >> United States Pharmacopoeia mark. Just means that it is a nation wide
> >> standard that makers of vinegars adhere to to ensure safety.
> >
> > I don't think there is a standard, George. I've seen some vinegar at 4
> > percent and 4-1/2 percent; five percent is what American recipes use
> > for preserving, though.
> >
> Reread my first line, established at 5% for pickling purposes. There are
> a variety of other vinegars that are not suitable for pickling and those
> are percentages of acetic acid at less than 5%. I've seen, and used in
> chemical plants, 100% acetic acid and have seen 20% USP in markets only
> once. Never could figure out what someone's household could do with
> vinegar that strong.

5% is standard white vinegar here in Canada. 7.5% is sold as "pickling
vinegar". I find it's too strong for my taste and use the 5%.

On 2/12/2011 3:20 PM, Sunny wrote:
> On Wed, 09 Feb 2011 14:05:12 -0600, George Shirley
> > wrote:
>
>> Here in the US vinegar has been established at 5% acetic acid for
>> pickling purposes. We look for the USP mark as in 5% USP, that is the
>> United States Pharmacopoeia mark. Just means that it is a nation wide
>> standard that makers of vinegars adhere to to ensure safety.
>
> Does vinegar lose its stregnth when we boil it?
>
> Thanks,
> Lou
I don't think so, should boil the water out of the acetic acid and make
the "vinegar" stronger. Probably why pickling recipes always say how
long to boil the vinegar. Acetic acid does not decompose at the boiling
point of water whereas water turns into steam and, lacking a lid on the
pot, dissipates into the surrounding air, thereby making the "vinegar"
stronger by a few percentage points.

Acetic acid 5%, ie. vinegar has a specific gravity of 1.0006 at 15
degrees Celcius whereas water has a specific gravity of approximately
1.0 at that same temperature, the actual number is something like .9998
and a few more numbers. I'm neither a food scientist nor a chemist by
managed chemists and chemical engineers for more years than I prefer to
remember.

I just checked my pantry, out of seven containers of vinegar there were
four that were 5% acidity(white vinegar, apple cider, white wine, and
red wine), two at 6% (basalmic), and one at 4.3% (rice wine vinegar). I
can't imagine anyone trying to make pickles with basalmic or rice wine
vinegars so we should be pretty safe sticking with the standards.

Sunny wrote:
....
> Does vinegar lose its stregnth when we boil it?

open to the air, i think so. the boiling point
is lower than water IIRC. so you would lose more
vinegar than water.


songbird

On 2/12/2011 6:11 PM, songbird wrote:
> Sunny wrote:
> ...
>> Does vinegar lose its stregnth when we boil it?
>
> open to the air, i think so. the boiling point
> is lower than water IIRC. so you would lose more
> vinegar than water.
>
>
> songbird

Not really, the boiling point of water is 100C or 212F, whereas pure
acetic acid has a boiling point of 118.1C or 245F. Therefore the point I
made before holds, the water boils off and the acetic acid portion of
the vinegar gets a bit stronger but does not become pure until you boil
all the water off. Since 5% vinegar is 95% water and 5% acetic acid that
is going to take awhile. The lowest boiling point of vinegar has to be
the water. Take a look at a Material Safety Data Sheet for 5% vinegar.

On the point of a MSDS, consumers can call a manufacturers 1-800 number
and request an MSDS on things like vinegar, bleach, etc. and the
manufacturer, by law, must send them one.

On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 15:09:31 -0600, George Shirley
> wrote:

>On 2/10/2011 2:50 PM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>> In >,
>> George > wrote:
>>
>>> Here in the US vinegar has been established at 5% acetic acid for
>>> pickling purposes. We look for the USP mark as in 5% USP, that is the
>>> United States Pharmacopoeia mark. Just means that it is a nation wide
>>> standard that makers of vinegars adhere to to ensure safety.
>>
>> I don't think there is a standard, George. I've seen some vinegar at 4
>> percent and 4-1/2 percent; five percent is what American recipes use
>> for preserving, though.
>>
>Reread my first line, established at 5% for pickling purposes. There are
>a variety of other vinegars that are not suitable for pickling and those
>are percentages of acetic acid at less than 5%. I've seen, and used in
>chemical plants, 100% acetic acid and have seen 20% USP in markets only
>once. Never could figure out what someone's household could do with
>vinegar that strong.

Used as an agricultural herbicide. Does a great job on thistles, not
quite so great on some other noxious weeds.

Ross.

On 2/13/2011 11:29 AM, Ross@home wrote:
> On Sat, 12 Feb 2011 15:09:31 -0600, George Shirley
> > wrote:
>
>> On 2/10/2011 2:50 PM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>>> In >,
>>> George > wrote:
>>>
>>>> Here in the US vinegar has been established at 5% acetic acid for
>>>> pickling purposes. We look for the USP mark as in 5% USP, that is the
>>>> United States Pharmacopoeia mark. Just means that it is a nation wide
>>>> standard that makers of vinegars adhere to to ensure safety.
>>>
>>> I don't think there is a standard, George. I've seen some vinegar at 4
>>> percent and 4-1/2 percent; five percent is what American recipes use
>>> for preserving, though.
>>>
>> Reread my first line, established at 5% for pickling purposes. There are
>> a variety of other vinegars that are not suitable for pickling and those
>> are percentages of acetic acid at less than 5%. I've seen, and used in
>> chemical plants, 100% acetic acid and have seen 20% USP in markets only
>> once. Never could figure out what someone's household could do with
>> vinegar that strong.
>
> Used as an agricultural herbicide. Does a great job on thistles, not
> quite so great on some other noxious weeds.
>
> Ross.

Had not thought of that Ross, 20% would do a job on some plants.

George Shirley wrote:
> songbird wrote:
>> Sunny wrote:
>> ...
>>> Does vinegar lose its stregnth when we boil it?
>>
>> open to the air, i think so. the boiling point
>> is lower than water IIRC. so you would lose more
>> vinegar than water.
>
> Not really, the boiling point of water is 100C or 212F, whereas pure
> acetic acid has a boiling point of 118.1C or 245F. Therefore the point I
> made before holds, the water boils off and the acetic acid portion of
> the vinegar gets a bit stronger but does not become pure until you boil
> all the water off. Since 5% vinegar is 95% water and 5% acetic acid that
> is going to take awhile. The lowest boiling point of vinegar has to be
> the water. Take a look at a Material Safety Data Sheet for 5% vinegar.

thanks for the correction George. that's what i get
for relying upon my memory.

i think i was recalling how strong that smell
is whenever i heat it up for preserving.


> On the point of a MSDS, consumers can call a manufacturers 1-800 number
> and request an MSDS on things like vinegar, bleach, etc. and the
> manufacturer, by law, must send them one.

seems like this should all be on-line now?


songbird

George Shirley wrote:
> Ross@home wrote:
....
>> Used as an agricultural herbicide. Does a great job on thistles, not
>> quite so great on some other noxious weeds.
>
> Had not thought of that Ross, 20% would do a job on some plants.

the 5% works well on seedlings we
get in the crushed limestone here.

20% or stronger would be nice to
find if the price were roughly similar.

for cooking/preserving many people
cut it anyways, so to have to adjust
for higher strength isn't a toughie.

why move 95% water if i could get it
stronger? water we have -- space we
don't have as much of. packaging would
be less.


songbird

On 2/15/2011 12:23 PM, songbird wrote:
> George Shirley wrote:
>> songbird wrote:
>>> Sunny wrote:
>>> ...
>>>> Does vinegar lose its stregnth when we boil it?
>>>
>>> open to the air, i think so. the boiling point
>>> is lower than water IIRC. so you would lose more
>>> vinegar than water.
>>
>> Not really, the boiling point of water is 100C or 212F, whereas pure
>> acetic acid has a boiling point of 118.1C or 245F. Therefore the point I
>> made before holds, the water boils off and the acetic acid portion of
>> the vinegar gets a bit stronger but does not become pure until you boil
>> all the water off. Since 5% vinegar is 95% water and 5% acetic acid that
>> is going to take awhile. The lowest boiling point of vinegar has to be
>> the water. Take a look at a Material Safety Data Sheet for 5% vinegar.
>
> thanks for the correction George. that's what i get
> for relying upon my memory.
>
> i think i was recalling how strong that smell
> is whenever i heat it up for preserving.
>
>
>> On the point of a MSDS, consumers can call a manufacturers 1-800 number
>> and request an MSDS on things like vinegar, bleach, etc. and the
>> manufacturer, by law, must send them one.
>
> seems like this should all be on-line now?
>
>
> songbird

It is, just Google the brand name and product and add MSDS to the search
line. I just like to make them send me one every once in awhile to see
if the gubmint is still doing its job. Hint: I'm a retired safety
professional.

>>> Here in the US vinegar has been established at 5% acetic acid for
>>> pickling purposes. We look for the USP mark as in 5% USP, that is the

>Reread my first line, established at 5% for pickling purposes. There are
>a variety of other vinegars that are not suitable for pickling and those
>are percentages of acetic acid at less than 5%. I've seen, and used in

And in the case of a jar of balsamic vinegar 6%. - I look forward to having
the time to try pickling grapes. ;p
>chemical plants, 100% acetic acid and have seen 20% USP in markets only
>once. Never could figure out what someone's household could do with
>vinegar that strong.

Songbird beat me to it: I'd dilute it, and "why move 95% water...." =
A gallon of vinegar is heavy, 24 (ish) ml isn't.
S.