alum in chicago? [Pickling lime?]

i can't seem to locate alum in any grocery store i've been to... (wf, jewel, dominick's, TJ's...) .. anyone know who might carry it?

Have you tried the Home Economist? There's one in Skokie and one in Westmont.

Church Point Plaza, 9159 Gross Point Rd
Chicago, 60077
Telephone: (847) 674-7252

The Home Economist
6382 S Cass Ave
Chicago, 60559
Telephone: (630) 852-0214

Alum is commonly sold in Filipino groceries and I've seen it at Uni Mart sold as tennis ball sized chunks. If you can't find it, ask for "tawas."

Uni Mart
5845 N Clark St

I found it at Shop N Save in Des Plaines, a small McCormick bottle. I use it for first aid purposes (on canker sores)...maybe try an Eastern European type grocery store, since it's used in pickling.

abe_froeman wrote:I found it at Shop N Save in Des Plaines, a small McCormick bottle. I use it for first aid purposes (on canker sores)...maybe try an Eastern European type grocery store, since it's used in pickling.

ahh, i know just the place to check. and it's 2 blocks from where i live... not sure why i didn't think of it sooner...
i'm using it for pickling as well.

the more i read i don't know if it is needed, some even saying it's not necessarily recommended and can be dangerous.. my chef friend insists it's the only way to get crispy pickles and said our pickles would be mush, and said to forget okra being crispy... it turns out that they were decent... though could've been crisiper. even the okra wasn't bad.

(suggested alternatives?? food grade lime... an ice soak?)

dddane wrote:the more i read i don't know if it is needed, some even saying it's not necessarily recommended and can be dangerous.. my chef friend insists it's the only way to get crispy pickles and said our pickles would be mush, and said to forget okra being crispy... it turns out that they were decent... though could've been crisiper. even the okra wasn't bad.

(suggested alternatives?? food grade lime... an ice soak?)

I personally do not like pickles processed with alum. The over the top crispness seems phoney to me reminding me of styrofoam.

I salt and ice my cucumber slices overnight in the refrigerator. When I process them, I pasteurize them at 180 degrees (no more than 185) for 30 minutes. More information here:

Low-Temperature Pasteurization Treatment

Pickle recipes using salting and chilling pretreatment

If you boiling water process them, then you will have a softer pickle. If you are willing to pasteurize, then you will retain more crispness than your Chef Friend would expect.

Regards,

Anyone know where I can find pickling lime? I'm ready to attempt my grandmother-in-laws recipe for pickled green tomatoes, but I need some food grade pickling lime. I've checked the canning area of some local hardware stores and my local grocery store (Harvesttime) to no avail as yet. Got a lead you can share? Thanks!

dddane wrote:the more i read i don't know if it is needed, some even saying it's not necessarily recommended and can be dangerous.. my chef friend insists it's the only way to get crispy pickles and said our pickles would be mush, and said to forget okra being crispy... it turns out that they were decent... though could've been crisiper. even the okra wasn't bad.

I've always found my pickles to be quite crisp without any added lime.

Any experience with tomato pickles sans lime? And I'm still curious if anyone knows of a source for lime. Not quite ready to give it up just yet.

Hi,

Where there are canning supplies, there is usually lime. You are asking late in the season, which may reduce your chances of finding it.

In my limited experience with lime pickles, I find those who grew up eating them do love them. For those who didn't, like me, the texture is a bit weird. I have likened it to styrofoam. However, you are trying to achieve an experience, which I respect.

When I make (cucumber) pickles, I salt them and wait for some hours for the water to transfer out of or wilt the pickles. I saw a similar method of salting tomatoes. However the processing method I use for (cucumber) pickles involves pasteurization, which keeps the pickles from softening too much and retaining the crunch. If you are not making too many, you might forgo processing them and simply store in the refrigerator.

Regards,

The Home Economist in Skokie has a wide variety of these oddities, typically in packages labeled for the food service industry. Look against the back wall, above the colored sugars, on the shelf under the cookie cutters. They're in small plastic jars with white lids.

Home Economist
9159 Gross Point Rd
Skokie, IL 60077
(847) 674-7252

How about grape or cherry leaves for crispness? Many of the Old Country pickle recipes I've seen include sour cherry leaves, and I always assumed that was for some flavor but, apparently as I've been informed here and having since researched confimed, the leaves are to help preserve crispness in the pickles.

Binko wrote:Many of the Old Country pickle recipes I've seen include sour cherry leaves,

I've heard of grape leaves, but not sour cherry leaves. So perhaps I should simply change the focus of my search from lime to leaves!

Diannie wrote:The Home Economist in Skokie has a wide variety of these oddities, typically in packages labeled for the food service industry.

I called them and they said they didn't have any. Just pickling spice. Did not, however, go in person to investigate.

Cathy2 wrote:I find those who grew up eating them do love them. For those who didn't, like me, the texture is a bit weird. I have likened it to styrofoam. However, you are trying to achieve an experience, which I respect.

Wish I knew what process my grandmother used because I don't know if it's what I grew up with or not. But I've tried the pickles from this recipe and quite liked them. So perhaps I'm a lime pickle lover.

And fwiw, I also called my mother-in-law who claims that she had to have a relative in Georgia ship it to her, so I'm wondering if availability is a regional thing. Either way, looks like I'm out of luck for this year because if I wait much longer my tomatoes may not be green. So I'm going to try a salt process and see how it works. Thanks for the suggestions!

Hi,

I have a one pound container of pickling lime. If you are willing to meet me somewhere, then you can have it.

Regards,

piesandquilts wrote:I've heard of grape leaves, but not sour cherry leaves. So perhaps I should simply change the focus of my search from lime to leaves!

Poking around the net a bit, I found this on Google Books.

The author concludes that sour cherry leaves firm pickles at least as well as grape leaves, but not as much as alum. Peach leaves and oak leaves are also suggested.

I'm not 100 percent sure, but I feel like I've seen alum at Indian markets on Devon, like Patel Brothers.

PATEL BROTHERS
2610 W. DEVON AVENUE
CHICAGO, IL 60659
Tel: 773.262.7777 or 773.764.1857

p.s. (edit) A quick search just turned up this: in Indian markets, it may be labeled "fatakdi powder".

I am looking for pickling lime to add to one of my tomato plants which seems to need a boost of calcium. Calcium nitrate would work, also, but I can't seem to find a local source of it, either.

The best place for me would be somewhere within the city of Chicago.

ViewsAskew wrote:I am looking for pickling lime to add to one of my tomato plants which seems to need a boost of calcium. Calcium nitrate would work, also, but I can't seem to find a local source of it, either.

The best place for me would be somewhere within the city of Chicago.

Russo Ace had big bags of hydrated lime (maybe 25lbs) when I was there Friday scoring a new Weber. Think they were $17 or so, but call to be sure:

Russo Ace Hardware
(773) 777-2606
5848 W Montrose Ave, Chicago, IL 60634

Hi,

Why do you think you need lime for the tomatoes? In the Yankee Gardner series, they were always pulling out lime. I bought some lime just because of that show. I later learned, soil in the northeast is acidic with the lime used to raise the pH. In our region, our soil is high on the pH scale and we often introduce materials to lower the pH.

You may want to contact your local University of Illinois Extension Service to discuss with a Master Gardner your tomato problems. I will be very surprised if they suggest lime.

Regards,

Views, if you need it, I have a 5lb bag of horticultural lime and you're welcome to some (I bought it at the aforementioned extension office's suggestion that I make homemade Bordeaux mixture for the various fungal diseases my tomatoes were plagued with at my old plot; I also have horticultural copper sulfate for the same reason .) Just shoot me a PM and we'll figure out the how and where - NB:it isn't culinary lime.

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

Why do you think you need lime for the tomatoes? In the Yankee Gardner series, they were always pulling out lime. I bought some lime just because of that show. I later learned, soil in the northeast is acidic with the lime used to raise the pH. In our region, our soil is high on the pH scale and we often introduce materials to lower the pH.

You may want to contact your local University of Illinois Extension Service to discuss with a Master Gardner your tomato problems. I will be very surprised if they suggest lime.

Regards,

Cathy, hydrated lime is primarily calcium. It's a long shot - I either have a definite calcium and magnesium shortage based on the interveinal cholorisis - or I have a virus or bacteria causing interveinal chlorosis. It's relatively well accepted that hydrated lime is a good one-shot thing to add the boost of calcium, though usually it's associated with BER - blossom end rot. In this case, I actually have blossom drop, which is associated with a major deficiency. About a T of hydrated lime or picking lime per gallon will provide instant calcium to the plant. If it doesn't help, I'll know that's not the problem. But, no matter what, it won't hurt the plant. FYI, I'm in container soil, the the pH isn't an issue; usually it's dolomitic lime used to change pH, but over a longer period.

Mhays wrote:Views, if you need it, I have a 5lb bag of horticultural lime and you're welcome to some (I bought it at the aforementioned extension office's suggestion that I make homemade Bordeaux mixture for the various fungal diseases my tomatoes were plagued with at my old plot; I also have horticultural copper sulfate for the same reason .) Just shoot me a PM and we'll figure out the how and where - NB:it isn't culinary lime.

You rock. Since I need about a 1/2 cup, the Ace thing is great to know, but a bit excessive for me at this point! I'll PM you immediately.