When people hear the word “pickle”, many automatically think of cucumber pickles. However, there are many foods that can be pickled. Pickling foods at home may sound difficult or time consuming, but there are both quick and traditional options for people to choose from.
Ways to Pickle Food
There are several different ways to make pickled foods. Nearly any type of food can be pickled. Rebecca Catalena, an Alabama Extension regional agent of food safety and quality, said there are four basic types of pickles:
• brined or fermented
• fresh pack or quick process
• fruit pickles
• relishes
All types of are better when allowed to stand for several weeks after processing. This allows the flavors to develop to the fullest extent.
Brined or Fermented
Brined or fermented pickles take longer because the product is brined or cured over a three to six-week period in a high salt solution (brine).
With these pickles, the cucumber changes color from green to an olive or yellow-green. The inside also changes from white to translucent.
“Quick-pack is one process that anyone who does home food preservation can get done in a few hours,” Catalena said.
Quick process pickles are not fermented. There are two methods people can do to make this type. One method requires soaking the product in a low-salt solution for several hours or overnight to draw some of the salt from the cells. Then, they are drained and processed with vinegar, spices and seasonings.
Another method for quick process pickling calls for cooking the vegetable with vinegar and spices, then packaging and processing the product immediately. Beet pickles, bread-and-butter pickles, pickled asparagus and green beans use the fresh-pack method.
Fruit Pickles
These are just what the name implies, fruits simmered in spicy syrup then packed and processed. Watermelon rind pickles fall into this category.
Relishes
Relishes are mixtures of fruits and/or vegetables that are chopped, seasoned and cooked in a vinegar and spice solution then packed and processed.
Secrets For Crunchy Pickles
Use Small, Firm Cucumbers.
This is the most important step. If you start with a big soft cucumbers, you’ll end up with big soft pickles. If you are using overgrown cucumbers for your pickles, nothing is going to turn them crunchy.
Jar Immediately After Picking/As Soon As Possible.
Going straight from the vine to the jar is the best. Catalena said she had good results using farmer’s market cucumbers, providing they are firm when she buys them, and she doesn’t leave them on the counter for many days.
Soak In Ice Water For a Few Hours.
If you can’t get to work canning the cucumbers immediately after picking them, submerging them in an icy bowl of water in the fridge will help them firm up or remain firm.
Cut Blossom End of Cucumber Off.
The blossom-end of a cucumber is said to contain enzymes which can cause mushy pickles. Cutting it off is your best bet.
Use Low-Temperature Pasteurization Treatment.
The treatment results in a better product texture but must be carefully managed to avoid possible spoilage. Place jars in a canner filled half way with warm (120º to 140º F) water.
Then, add hot water to a level 1 inch above jars. Heat the water enough to maintain 180º to 185º F water temperature for 30 minutes.
Check with a candy or jelly thermometer to be certain the water temperature is at least 180ºF during the entire 30 minutes.
Temperatures higher than 185ºF may cause unnecessary softening of pickles. Caution: Use only when recipe indicates.
Quick Fresh-Pack Dill Pickles
Ingredients
• 8 pounds of 3- to 5-inch pickling cucumbers
• 2 gallons water
• 1¼ cups canning or pickling salt
• 1½ quarts vinegar (5 percent)
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 quarts water
• 2 tablespoons mixed pickling spice
• about 3 tablespoons whole mustard seed (2 tsp to 1 tsp per pint jar)
• about 14 heads of fresh dill (1½ heads per pint jar)
• or 4 ½ tablespoons dill seed (1½ teaspoons per pint jar)
Directions
Wash cucumbers. Cut 1/16-inch slice off blossom end and discard, but leave ¼-inch of stem attached.
Dissolve ¾ cup of salt in 2 gallons of ice water. Pour over cucumbers and let stand for 12 hours. Drain.
Combine vinegar, ½ cup salt, sugar and 2 quarts of water. Add mixed pickling spices tied in a clean white cloth.
Heat to boiling. Fill jars with cucumbers. Add 1 tsp mustard seed and 1½ heads fresh dill per pint. Cover with boiling pickling solution, leaving ½-inch headspace.
Adjust lids and process or use the low-temperature pasteurization treatment.
To process without low-temperature pasteurization, process in a water bath canner. Process pints for 10 minutes and quarts for 15 minutes. Yields 7 to 9 pints.
More Information
For more questions on pickling or any other food preservation, visit Alabama Extension online at http://www.aces.edu or contact Rebecca Catalana, Alabama Extension regional agent for food safety and quality, at the Mobile County Extension office (251) 574-8445 or Escambia County Extension Office at (251) 867-7760.
Source: Alabama Extension System
