Preserve Your Bounty With This All-Purpose Quick Pickling Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between pickling and quick pickling? ›

Traditional pickle making includes canning, which uses high temperatures to sterilize and create an airtight seal that further preserves the contents from spoilage. Quick pickling uses the same basic ingredients as traditional pickling but you skip the canning process and store them in your refrigerator.

In fermentation, good bacteria turn sugars into lactic acid, which preserves the food product. In quick pickling, the cold of the fridge lets the vinegary flavors of the brine marinate with the fruits or vegetables (and added spices) while forestalling the bacteria growth.

The classic ratio is super easy to remember and is easily scale-able depending on how many pickles you're making. It's 100% vinegar, 50% water, 25% sugar and 12.5% kosher salt by weight. So for example, 200g vinegar, 100g water, 50g sugar and 25g kosher salt (again, you can scale this up or down!).

Quick pickles last for 2-3 weeks when stored properly in the refrigerator. Take note: This is not a canning recipe. This is a simple refrigerator pickle. These pickles stay crisp and are meant to be stored and served chilled.

In fresh-pack or quick-pickles, the big concern is that sufficient acid be present to prevent growth of harmful pathogens. Cider or white vinegar of 5 percent acidity (50 grain) is recommended for pickling. Often older pickle recipes will call for less vinegar than water.

Most pickle recipes call for distilled white vinegar. This is the clear, colorless vinegar made by fermenting grains. It has a mellow aroma, tart acid flavor and does not affect the color of light-colored vegetables or fruits.

No, there are other methods for pickling, including quick pickling and refrigerator pickling. But this pickling method does call for boiling the brine. This process helps bloom the flavors of the ingredients and help speed up the pickling process when it's added to the fresh vegetables or fruit.

Quick pickles are also known as refrigerator pickles. They are simply vegetables that are pickled in a vinegar, water, and salt (sometimes sugar, too) solution and stored in the refrigerator.

Be sure you're using a clean container to pack your pickles (we may be quick pickling, but we're not barbarians!), though you don't need to sterilize it. Mason and other glass jars are just as good here as they are in traditional canning, McClellan says.

This is a basic 3-2-1 pickle recipe—three parts vinegar, two parts water, one part sugar. Salt and spices are totally up to you. You can also reduce the amount of sugar for a more savory pickle brine.

What is the basic pickling formula? ›

Use this BA-endorsed formula as a brine base for pretty much everything: Bring 1 cup distilled white vinegar, 2 Tbsp. kosher salt, 2 tsp. sugar, up to 2 Tbsp. spices (e.g., peppercorns, coriander seeds, and/or mustard seeds), and 2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan.

Sugar in pickling is used to balance the tartness of the vinegar. Although the sugar can be eliminated from pickle recipes, the pickles are likely to be too sour. Note: Under no circ*mstances should the amount of vinegar be decreased or diluted to compensate for less sugar.

For a quick and easy way to help ensure crisp pickles: soak cucumbers in ice water for 4 to 5 hours before pickling. This is a safer method for making crisp pickles. Using lime, or calcium hydroxide, in solution for soaking cucumbers changes the amount of acid in the cucumber tissue.

You can absolutely reuse that brine as long as… You're only using it to make refrigerator pickles. Once a brine has been used to can something, that's it.

Pickle juice is usually very acidic, which creates an environment less conducive to bacterial growth. However, if left for too long, it can still go bad. The most visible sign would be mold growth. If the juice turns cloudy, or if it develops an off smell or taste, it's time to discard it.

Quick pickles are also known as refrigerator pickles. They are simply vegetables that are pickled in a vinegar, water, and salt (sometimes sugar, too) solution and stored in the refrigerator.

There are three general methods for vinegar-brine pickling: quick-pickling, salt-brine pickling and the vinegar-brine soak and rinse method. Within those methods, there exist many variations, recipes and approaches to make things like relishes and chutneys.

Pickling Science

The pickling process is carried out in one of two ways. One method is through anaerobic fermentation in a brine that creates lactic acid. The other method is marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar (acetic acid).

The many varieties of pickled and fermented foods are classified by ingredients and method of preparation. The four general classes are: brined or fermented, fresh-pack or quick-process, fruit and relishes. Caution: The level of acidity in a pickled product is as important to its safety as it is to taste and texture.