Question for the preservers/canners - citric acid brands?

[Daley]

I have a question for any and all of the home canners, preservers, brewers, etc. in the community. And it might be a little more time sensitive than I care to admit.

Do you have any food grade citric acid brands you can recommend that you know is clean, high quality, gluten free, and reasonably priced per pound - ideally without any silicon dioxide added? Internet searches for this sort of thing is a dumpster fire of AI generated shovelposts and lifestyle blogs that tell me nothing useful.

I'd been using LemiShine, but it's kinda been a bit of a mixed bag, and I'm not fond of the pelletized nature of the granules as it makes it more difficult to dissolve and mix into cold liquids. Otherwise, I haven't had much problem with it beyond irregular availability and difficulty sourcing. I also go through a fair amount of the stuff, so telling me to buy a 12oz container brand for $10 is gonna get expensive fast for me. I need a new option soon, as a different brand that I don't want to name that I tried is a serious no-go.

Thanks for your help!

[uniwelder]

This isn’t answering the question, but if you happen to be canning tomatoes, citric acid may not be necessary. The ph needs to be below 4.6 to be considered safe. When we’ve puréed tomatoes and evaporated off half the water, we’ve generally gotten a ph of around 4.3. My wife works in a lab, so use her ph meter to test. Granted, not everyone will be able to test this way, and ph strips won’t usually help at this level, but thought it’s worthwhile to mention.

[Daley]

Not actually being used for canning, but thanks anyway. I need actual citric acid as an active ingredient in a drink mix.

[FrugalShrew]

So, this is not a personal recommendation but how about Milliard? Appears to be GF, not have silicon dioxide, be available in bulk, and have good reviews.

[reeshau]

Not for canning (I do can) but we use quite a bit of citric acid for making bath bombs.  The brand is Roots Circle.  No SiO2. Crystals about like sugar crystals.  30 Oz.  Don't remember the price.  I think we got it through Amazon,  but here's a suggestion to check your local hobby store in addition to the grocery store for larger containers.

[Daley]

Not for canning (I do can) but we use quite a bit of citric acid for making bath bombs.  The brand is Roots Circle.  No SiO2. Crystals about like sugar crystals.  30 Oz.  Don't remember the price.  I think we got it through Amazon,  but here's a suggestion to check your local hobby store in addition to the grocery store for larger containers.

Found it on Amazon. The price isn't awful, but it doesn't look like the packaging survives Amazon's packaging and delivery system well, from the looks of the reviews, and they don't consistently do freshness seals to prevent hardening into a clump... or when they do, there're monkeys in the works that tamper with it. Also, looked up the OU Kosher certification, as I got burnt on that with the last batch I bought. At least it's half legit. The product's in the Orthodox Union database, but it's not certified Kosher for Passover, despite the label on the side. Not that I'm that overly observant with kashrut (I'm willing to go without on this, given the LemiShine), but it's nice to have multiple supervising authorities over the product quality... especially for something like this that you plan on ingesting, I'm finding. But, if you're willing to lie about one thing on the label...

The local big box hobby stores (that's all we got, we're in Green country) don't carry food grade, and of the local grocery stores, they either carry Mrs. Wages, which contains 2% SiO2 and runs nearly $10/12oz; or they carry Ball Canning's own brand, which if you're familiar with the canning space and the prices there-in with these legacy canning brands? You'd think the stuff was lovingly produced over the course of months by the hands of vestal virgins, and each 7.5oz shaker was rode into the store individually, swaddled by a cashmere blanket, on the back of a neutered Ane de berger jackass.

So, this is not a personal recommendation but how about Milliard? Appears to be GF, not have silicon dioxide, be available in bulk, and have good reviews.

I was thinking about Milliard next, but despite the reviews, I've gotten a little gun shy at this point... especially as I'm not familiar with the brand, and the rest of the Amazon store for Milliard branded stuffs is all non-edible, BBBY-style home-goods.

[Daley]

Thanks for the help, all.

For better or worse, I think I'm gonna limp along with the LemiShine for a bit longer, as it's a known quantity and it's back in stock.

However, I did find a source on some 99.8% pure USP food grade citric acid that's near about the same price as the Milliards when bought in sufficient quantity from a smaller industrial and scientific lab supply, but shipping won't be fast enough to get here before the end of the week. So, it's a next time.

Again, thanks for the help!

[FrugalShrew]

Well, glad LemiShine is back in stock, at least.

I was just going to say the level of purity you are looking for is probably greater than most home uses require, and that a scientific lab recommendation might be useful. But you have already jumped to lab supply angle, and even found a source, so that's great! Hope that source works out well.