Ask Lemmy

You can use sugar for preservation.

Candied fruit uses sugar to lower the water activity and bind the sugar molecules in a way that microbial activity stops.

But the important thing is that sugar isn't the same as salt. We can enjoy much higher concentrations of sugar in our food than salt. A typical soda is 10% sugar, while something like salt water from the ocean is about 3.5%, and would cause dehydration and serious organ damage in substantial quantities.

Salt also is quite limited in solubility in water, capping out at 28% by weight of a water solution, whereas sugar can easily be 67% or more (literally with more sugar than water) at warm or hot temperatures.

You'll have to follow established recipes for sugar-based preservation, because a lot of the data on microbial growth has to be learned through experiments and observations, rather than having sophisticated models for inferring which combinations are safe.

Other preservatives besides salt and sugar include alcohol, acid, and smoke. And there are complex interactions between microbes so that sometimes acid comes up later in the process.

You cannot substitute sugar for salt. Foods with high enough sugar levels are shelf stable because they are high in sugar and low in moisture. This suppresses microbial activity completely.

Honey cured meat usually uses the honey for flavour only and will still have salt in it. For ham in particular, there will also be sodium nitrite (this is what gives ham its distinctive colour).

In pickle brine, salt is important for suppressing the growth of unfriendly microbes. Friendly microbes like lacto bacteria are very tolerant of saline environments, where unfriendly microbes are not.

There are different kinds of pickles.

Fridge pickles are the most forgiving because the low temperature limits microbial activity.

Vinegar pickles are packed in acidic brine. The acid (usually vinegar) kills c. botulinum. The salt flavours the pickles but also hampers the growth of unfriendly microbes. These are also usually sterilized in a water bath for shelf stability.

Fermented pickles have very specific salt requirements to ensure you get the right kind of microbial growth. The fermentation process also requires sugar for the microbes to metabolise into acid and prevent the growth of c. botulinum.

Obligatory warnings in case this was not a hypothetical question:

Use tested recipes from reliable sources. Use recipe books from the Mason jar manufacturers, USDA recipes, books from well known chefs, etc.

If it smells like death, throw it out. If in doubt, throw it out.

Do not screw around with this - it is very easy to make yourself violently ill and if you make a bad enough mistake, you could die.

If you use sugar to pickle something, the result is called "jam". Strawberry jam is sugar-pickled strawberries. So... Yes, you can. And it's done commonly.

Sweet pickles are a thing. But I am pretty sure they're made the same way as any other pickle (gherkin) there is just sugar in the brine. It's not like pickles are made by just packing the vegetable in salt and drying it out. You don't use JUST salt.

Not a pickler or anything. I suspect that if you tried to do just sugar it would ferment instead

Honey-cured meats are just salt-cured meats with a dash of sugar for flavor, fyi

Those cured meats have a boat load of salt generally.

Sugar is fuel for all manner of microbes. Salt is not fuel.

Honey is antimicrobial but only on its own. Mix it with water and yeast has no trouble going to town on it.

If the concentration of sugar gets stupid, it won’t immediately ferment but it will eventually.

I'd assume that it's called something different if you only use sugar.

I have pickled grapes with sugar, but not sugar alone. It was a mix of sugar, salt, and vinegar.

Sugar can be used for many things. But on its own it's just sugar.

Mix with water and add yeast, it ferments into ethanol. Then add oxygen and let it ferment into vinegar. At this point you can pickle with it.

As far as preserving things with sugar, we usually call that jam.

sugar is a preservative in that a high enough concentration draws enough water out of microbial cells to kill them or prevent their growth

that's why honey doesn't spoil

whatever you're trying to preserve with sugar, you'll have to use a very high concentration, to the point it'll become a syrup- or jam-like consistency. so if that's not a dealbreaker it's worth a try

Mmm, rock sugar cucumber.