terratoma
Assistant Cook
When making pickles (dill, kosher, polish) from cucumbers using water bath processing, recipes require a vinegar/water brine to reduce the pH to the proper level. I get that. The huge majority of these recipes use a brine that's close to, if not exactly, a 70% water:30% vinegar ratio. OK, I get that too.
But when I go looking for recipes for "dilly", or dilled green beans, it's the opposite: a few call for equal amounts of water and vinegar but most require much more vinegar than water (30% water to 70% vinegar in some cases). Why does processing dilled green beans via a water bath require a more highly concentrated brine than that used for processing cucumbers pickles? I obviously don't know my beans.
But when I go looking for recipes for "dilly", or dilled green beans, it's the opposite: a few call for equal amounts of water and vinegar but most require much more vinegar than water (30% water to 70% vinegar in some cases). Why does processing dilled green beans via a water bath require a more highly concentrated brine than that used for processing cucumbers pickles? I obviously don't know my beans.