Vitamin C pills for canning?

[larry_stewart]

I found a bottle of Vitamin C laying around. Im pretty sure I used it while canning my pears. Possibly to prevent discoloration. Does this make sense ? If not, what else might I have used it for?

 

[blissful]

Yes for pears and it could be used for apples too. I'd dissolve 300 mgs to 500 mgs (not sure of the mgs) into a big bowl w/ 2 quarts of water, then as the fruit was pared, sliced, cored, I'd put them in that bowl. Then when the bowl was full, I'd strain them through my hands and put them into the 18qt electric roaster to turn into pear sauce or apple sauce. The same thing for pear halves or quarters. It's just supposed to help them not brown as much.

 

[larry_stewart]

thanks, I knew I got it for something ( canning) just forgot and never wrote anything down ( which is unlike me)
Just nee to remember in the fall when I have a bunch of pears

 

[blissful]

If you are like me, you'll look up a thread on here about canning pears and see it there.

The other year we had a bumper crop, then this past year, a gorgeous white bloom on the tree, we thought we'd get bushels again (not that we needed any)...but we really didn't get much at all.
We trimmed up some of the branches just a few weeks ago, it seems to help spur the plant on to make more pears. We sprayed the bare tree with neem oil just a week ago.

I never know if I should expect pears or apples until they are there!

 

[larry_stewart]

last year was my firs bumper pear tree ( about 20), not sure of the variety, but they're better cooking/ canning pears than eating raw. So canning was perfect( ( Im actually eating them now). My apples are ugly, but. I mix them in with the ones we pick from the farm to make cider. Never had much of an apple year.

 

[pepperhead212]

There are quite a few things in the garden that ascorbic acid can be used for, too. Mostly as a soil fertilizer, but sometimes used as a foliar spray.

 

[Steve Kroll]

I always used ascorbic acid when making apple wine or hard cider to prevent the juice from oxidizing. Another use I found was mixing it into guacamole to help keep it from turning brown too quickly. It's nothing but pure vitamin C, so it's completely safe as a food additive.

Most winemaking stores sell it as a powder, which is a lot easier to work with than grinding up pills.

 

[dcSaute]

this is the usual "commercial" product.
tried researching how many x of vit c tablets to use, etc - but never did find any reliable information . . .

 

[Steve Kroll]

I stopped using fruit-fresh because it's not pure. It also contains other ingredients, such as dextrose and anti-caking agents. It might be fine in canned pears, though.