Does it matter

[coolJ]

Today I picked up a couple of little recipe books from the local second hand store, one of them is all about hawaiian cooking, and it has a recipe for pineapple pickles, but reading through the formula, it says to combine all the ingredients in an enameled pot. I was just wondering if it will make a difference if I use stainless steel, as I don't have an enameled pot.

[foodnfoto]

My hunch, CoolJ, is that the enameled pot protects the acid contained in the pineapple and vinegar from reacting with the aluminum in traditional cookware. This reaction between acid and aluminum causes discoloration and a metallic taste in your end product. Stainless steel cookware will also protect from this problem as it, as well as enamel, are non-reactive.
Sounds like a yummy pickle recipe. Please share it with the rest of us.

[Papa]

Dear CoolJ:

I agree strongly with FoodnFoto!

My first salad mixing set of bowls was made of aluminum. A few months later, I discovered little holes on all of them. I changed to stainless steel. Also, I do not use any "non stick surface" cookware.

[coolJ]

Here's the recipe.

Pineapple Pickles

5 1/2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
1 cup cider vinegar
4 cinnamon sticks
2 cups sugar
2 tbsp whole cloves

combine all ingredients in large enameled sauce pan. bring to a boil. cook over medium heat for 8 minutes. pour into sterilized jars.

[Svadhisthana]

Thanks for posting that coolj, I'll have to try it.

[Pooh]

Ditto CoolJ. Sounds really yummy.

[davewarne]

Well there is stainless steel and there is STAINLESS STEEL. I've had spoons made from cheap stainless steel come out of a sauce boat of dressing with pits in them. Enamel is good but the slightest damage and you are working on a steel bowl. Toughened glass is O.K.

David

[ShawtyCat]

Do you store this by fridge or cupboard??

[Pete]

As long as you use sterilized jars and make sure they seal, these should be able to be stored in the pantry. For safety's sake, if you concerned about homecanned goods, you could alter the recipe slightly by packing the raw pineapple into sterilized jars, heating the other ingredients to boiling, pour them over the pineapple, putting on the lids and processing in a waterbath for a few minutes (approximately 5-6 minutes should do). Though you could do it this way, the recipe, as stated should be safe. First of all you are using vinegar to help preserve, and pineapple is also very acidic so safety should not really be an issue. Any jars that don't seal should go into the fridge ASAP, and eaten soon, but the others should stand up to storage in a pantry, and would probably benefit from some time maturing, as all pickles do.