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--- --------PICKLES AND
RELISHES-------------------
Pickles, relishes, and chutneys are vegetables
prepared with brine (salt and water) or vinegar and
some sugar and spices. The vinegar acts as a
preservative, keeping any spoilage organisms from
growing. Sealing pickled foods in jars and processing
in a boiling water bath helps keep them fresh, crisp,
and free from mold.
Whole, sliced, or chunked vegetables cooked in vinegar
or a vinegar sugar syrup, can become pickles. Chopped
or ground combinations cooked with vinegar, sugar, and
spices become relishes. Chutneys are highly spiced
fruit and/or vegetable combinations.
The old fashioned dill pickles and sauerkraut are
actually fermented in brine, rather than cooked in
vinegar. The brine, plus the sugar from the cucumber
or cabbage, promote a special kind of bacterial action
that, over several days or weeks, changes cucumbers to
pickles and transforms cabbage to kraut.
PICKLING POINTERS Because certain ingredients are very
important for proper pickling, you'll need to be aware
of some of the following pointers.
1. Use produce that is as fresh as possible. Take it
from the garden to your kitchen and into jars just as
rapidly as possible. If you can't process the produce
immediately, be sure to keep it refrigerated.
Vegetables should be just barely ripe; they'll keep
their shape better than if they were fully ripe.
Always select cucumber varieties that have been
created for pickling. The large salad cucumbers were
developed for salads, not for pickles. Use smaller,
less pretty cukes, with pale skins, plenty o bumps,
and black spines. Never use waxed cucumbers. Select
evenly shaped and sized vegetables for even cooking
and better looking pickles.
2. Water is an important pickle ingredient, especially
for long brined pickles. Soft water is best. Hard
water can cloud the brine or discolor the pickles. If
you don't have soft water, boil hard water for 15
minutes, then let it stand overnight. Skim off the
scum, then carefully dip out what you need so you
won't get any sediment from the bottom. Then add 1
tablespoon of salt for each gallon; or you cn use
distilled water if your water is hard.
3. Salt, too, makes a difference. Table salt contains
special additives to prevent it from caking in your
shaker, and these materials can cloud brine. Iodized
salt can darken brine. use only pure, granulated salt,
also known as kosher salt, pickling salt, or dairy
salt. Most supermarkets stock it with canning supplies.
4. Vinegar is a crucial ingredient for many pickle
recipes. check the label when you shop, and be sure to
get a good quality vinegar of from 4 to 6 percent
acidity. (Sometimes listed as 40 to 60 grain.) Weaker
vinegar will not pickles foods. use distilled white
vinegar for light colored pickles, cider vinegar for
darker foods or more interesting flavor.
5. Sugar can be brown or white granulated, depending
on the lightness or darkness of food to be pickled.
Or, if you wish, use half corn syrup or honey and half
sugar. Don't use sugar substitutes unless you follow
their manufacturers' directions.
6. spices must be fresh. Old spices will make your
pickles taste musty. Most recipes call for whole
spices, which give stronger flavor and don't color the
pickles as much. It is suggested you tie the spices in
a cheesecloth bag and add them to the kettle during
cooking, then remove the bag before packing the
pickles into jars. Some cooks like to leave whole
spices in the jars for stronger flavor and just for
appearance's sake, but loose spices may darken the
pickles somewhat.
7. Alum, lime, and other ingredients added to crisp or
color pickles are not necessary, and their use is not
recommended. These ingredients are often found in old
fashioned recipes. Most of the newer recipes won't
need any of these additives.
Source: Vegetable Gardening Encyclopedia Typos by
Dorothy Flatman 1995
