Guide To Fresh Pickled Vegetables
If you're a gardener, or simply enjoy the scrumptious crunch of ice-cold pickles, you may have asked yourself whether it might be the time to start picking your own vegetables. Pickling is an easy way to preserve a bountiful garden harvest, as well as to preserve store-bought veggies for an indefinite amount of time. It is easy to pickle vegetables picked from your home garden with just a small amount of know-how and a limited supply of equipment.
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1. Select fresh produce
The quality of your pickled vegetables will only be as good as the vegetables themselves. Contrary to your taste buds and favorite vegetables, any vegetable is good for pickling. The most popular vegetables, that you can easily harvest at home, and also easily pickle include cucumber varieties, carrots, green beans, and the giving perennial asparagus.
Evaluate your harvest once you've picked and pruned your garden. Bruised or otherwise damaged or spoiled vegetables won't hold up well when pickled, and could end up soggy or bitter. Use your thriving vegetable plants for a truly homemade pickled vegetable.
2. Clean jars and prep ingredients
Make sure you wash and sterilize your jars before using. You can use pint or quart jars, and it's okay to reuse them between seasons. However, you should always replace the lids, as reused lids can cause premature food spoilage. Cut your vegetables into the desired shapes, and pack them into the jars. Pack the pieces in as tightly as possible without squishing them, and leave about half an inch of headspace. Then, fill with your brine.
3. Choose a brine
Brine is simply equal parts vinegar and water. Traditionally, white vinegar is used for pickling, however, you can use any type of vinegar depending on the flavor you desire. You can also customize the flavor of your pickles by adding different herbs and spices into your brine.
Dill pickles are usually pickled using garlic, dill, mustard powder, and red pepper flakes. You can add coriander or ginger to carrots, or try tomatoes with garlic. The opportunities are endless–experiment with different combinations to suit your tastes.
4. Slice up your vegetables
The shape of your pickle is entirely up to you and dependent only on the type of vegetable you are pickling. For example, many people prefer to pickle cucumbers whole or cut into slices. Some people select pickling cucumbers specifically, as these cucumbers stop growing at a small size and are ideal for fitting inside mason jars. Cherry tomatoes can be pickled whole, as can many green vegetables like asparagus or green beans. In some cases, you may wish to chop, slice, or quarter the vegetable simply so the pieces fit better inside the jar.
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5. Blanch as needed
While most vegetables, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots, do not need to be cooked before you begin to pickle them, others benefit from a quick blanching. Green beans and asparagus should be blanched to help preserve their flavor, but make sure you dip them into an ice bath to prevent them from discoloring before you pickle them.
6. No Canner? No Problem!
While many people prefer to make their pickled vegetables using a canner, this is not always necessary. Quick pickles, also known as refrigerator pickles, are pickled in a mixture of vinegar, water, and salt (as well as herbs, to taste) and then stored in the refrigerator. These pickles require only a few days of resting in the brine before they can be eaten, and last indefinitely as long as they are kept cool.
7. Use a water bath canner
Fill your canner or large stock pot, if you don't have a canner, with enough water so that there is about one inch of water above the jars. Place the jars inside the canner, placing a clean towel between them if they bump into each other or tip over. Then, boil the jars in the canner for about five minutes. This makes the jars shelf stable for about a year.
8. Mind the crunch
Keep in mind that canning pickled vegetables using a water bath canner is a great way to preserve pickles for long-term storage, but can make them slightly softer than if you pickle them and store them in the refrigerator without canning. If a super-crunchy carrot, beets, or dill pickle is what you're after, consider skipping the canning process altogether.
Pickled vegetables are great for snacking or as a keystone to any meal. These delicious jars make great gifts and can last for up to a month in the refrigerator or indefinitely once canned. Consider pickling your garden produce this summer, and indulge in these crunchy treats throughout the year.