i might cross-post this to the cooking and baking group, too.

come visit us

Or Apple cider vinegar.

I found Apple Cider Vinegar was wonderful in tomatoes. MUCH better than vinegar or lemon juice.

Have fun. I LOVE canning. I usually can enough to get through the winter with some veggies, freeze others.

Do you can the green ones?
If so, do you slice them in quarters?
Do you try to scrape out the pulp and seeds?

If you can whole tomatoes I skin them and just leave them whole with the seeds. You can also do them in quarters or however you want them this way but if I am going to cut them I usually seed them before I can them so I don't have to worry about doing it later.

If I cook them down to be used in other things I skin them then I quarter them and take out the seeds and the jelly around them. They make mills for that but I find they are hard to use. No matter how you do it it take some time but is well worth it.

I have a good friend who lives with us during legislative season. He is an amazing cook. He makes the best vegan sauce I have ever tasted. Last year I canned up 16 quarts of tomato sauce and he uses my organic sauce as his base. It is a match made in heaven because I then get a ton of lovely, vegan spaghetti sauce.

Rice vinegar is light and has a sweetness. Apple cider tends toward sweetness but is more intense. I seldom use regular vinegar for anything but cleaning.

Some alum, fresh dill and garlic, some cider vinegar, mostly salt.

I would research this, but also balance what your taste buds tell you.

I prefer a salt brine to a vinegar brine for pickled goods.

I wonder if a non-sodium salt would work as well, ie potassium chloride.

I have high BP, need to avoid sodium but not salty flavors.

Health first, taste a close second!

Cooking is largely a matter of chemistry and physics.

Alum has properties that adjust the chemistry of the brine, just as baking soda does in baked recipes and all the rest.

I learned a lot by just researching an answer to your question.

Thanks for that!