Calcium chloride is the firming agent sold in small jars for home canners, and it's what keeps a pickle crunchy without a day of soaking. FDA lists it as generally recognized as safe, among other things as a firming agent and pickling agent, at levels within good manufacturing practice: for processed vegetables, pickles among them, that's up to 0.4% of the food as served. The example's dose is far below that: 1.5 grams in a quart jar of pickles, under 0.2% of what's in the jar. Weigh it rather than spooning it, and add it the same way every batch, to each jar or to the brine. On the label it's an ingredient like any other, "calcium chloride", in order by weight, near the end. It replaces the older ways: pickling lime firms well but has to be rinsed out in three soaks, since the leftover lime makes pickles unsafe, and alum works only on fermented pickles and the home canning guide calls it unnecessary. If your pickles are an acidified food filed with FDA, a change to the recipe is something to take to your process authority before the first batch. In the example below, a Wisconsin pickle maker adds it to two products.
The short version
- Calcium chloride is generally recognized as safe as a firming agent and pickling agent.
- The good manufacturing practice level for processed vegetables: 0.4% as served.
- 1.5 g per quart jar is under 0.2% of the contents.
- Weigh it; add it the same way every batch.
- List it as "calcium chloride" in the ingredients, by weight.
- Lime needs three rinses; alum only firms fermented pickles.
- TaroStack keeps the calcium chloride in the recipe, so each batch's dose is on record. More below.
The firming options
| Option | How it's used | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Calcium chloride | Weighed into each jar or the brine | List it on the label |
| Pickling lime | A 12 to 24 hour soak before pickling | Rinse and resoak three times to remove the excess |
| Alum | In fermented pickles | Unnecessary, and no help to quick pickles |
| Low-temperature process | 30 minutes in water at 180°F, held there | Needs a thermometer and a steady heat |
The acidity that keeps pickles safe is in pH testing for acidified foods, and how ingredients are ordered in ingredient list order.
The rules
| Rule | Where |
|---|---|
| Calcium chloride | Generally recognized as safe; firming and pickling agent among its uses; within good manufacturing practice, 0.4% as served for processed vegetables and for condiments and relishes (21 CFR 184.1193) |
| The label | Ingredients by common name, in descending order by weight (21 CFR 101.4(a)) |
| Lime and alum | Lime rinsed and resoaked three times; alum unnecessary; a 180°F, 30-minute process improves firmness (National Center for Home Food Preservation) |
This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: crisper dill spears
Sugar River Pickle Co., the made-up pickle maker in Belleville, Wisconsin, I use in these examples, sells to a Madison co-op, where customers said the quart dill spears went soft by the bottom of the jar. The owner tried calcium chloride on two products:
| Product | Jar | Contents | Calcium chloride | Share | Batch | To weigh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dill spears | Quart | 900 g | 1.5 g | 0.17% | 48 jars | 72 g |
| Dill spears | Pint | 450 g | 0.75 g | 0.17% | 60 jars | 45 g |
| Bread-and-butter chips | Pint | 450 g | 0.75 g | 0.17% | 60 jars | 45 g |
| Pickled beets | Pint | 450 g | None | 40 jars |
Before the first batch, the new recipe went to the process authority that reviewed the spears' process, since they're filed as an acidified food. The calcium chloride is weighed for the whole batch on the bench scale and stirred into the brine, rather than measured into each jar by the quarter teaspoon, and the labels now end "...dill, garlic, calcium chloride." The beets stayed as they were. How the business got into stores is in how to start a pickle business.
Get the calculator
Download the calcium chloride calculator. One sheet: each product's jar, contents and calcium chloride per jar; the share of the contents, whether it's within 0.4% and the amount to weigh for a batch fill in. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The label lists calcium chloride whether or not anyone remembered to add it. A batch made from the old recipe card is soft, and its label says something that isn't in the jar, which only the batch record catches.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps the calcium chloride in the recipe, so each batch's dose is on record.
Recipes by weight. The dill spear recipe lists 72 g of calcium chloride for 48 quarts, with the cucumbers, vinegar, salt and dill.
Batches by lot. Each batch is made from the current recipe and records which lot of calcium chloride and vinegar it used.
Recalls. If a batch went out wrong, one report shows every store that got it.
| The job | Recipe card | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which recipe a batch followed | Remembered | Each batch from its recipe |
| Calcium chloride used | Not recorded | From the recipe and batch |
| Who got a bad batch | Invoices | One recall report |
Recipes, batches and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.