Argamemnon
Senior Cook
I have never made pickled vegetables myself. Can I use lemon juice instead of vinegar? And would it be better if I added some sea salt?
Are you canning or just pickling and putting them in the fridge? I've not heard of a canning recipe that is safe to use that has lemon juice in it. You need to have the correct balance of acid to keep your food from developing bacteria etc.
Long answer, sorry. I think my answer would be a no to the lemon juice. Can you post the recipe you plan to use?
The acid levels of vinegar and lemon juice are about the same but how much time do you want to spend squeezing lemons to get enough juice to make pickling worth while?
Strange, I couldn't find any English site, but a Turkish site says that pickled vegetables in lemon juice can't be preserved very long. So that's probably the reason that it's usually done with vinegar.I did a google search and found a lot of information about pickling with lemon juice. Looks like it can be done.