Pickling

Being in a Pickle is a good thing...

Ah pickling! Something I do a LOT of come canning season. There is almost a limitless number of ways to pickle veggies and fruit.

One of the best books I have found on the subject of preserving food is "Stocking Up How to Preserve the Foods You Grow Naturally" it is published by Rodale Press, Inc. Go to Ebay or Amazon.com and search for the book by title or ISBN 0-97857-167-1 for the hardcover or ISBN 0-87857-221-X for the deluxe edition.

This book covers ALL type of food preservation from drying, freezing,canning, juicing, jams and jellies. It even covers ways to preserve milk, make butter and cheeses as well as preserving all kinds of meat. You will find hundreds of recipes to use, many using natural sweeteners like honey instead of sugar. If I had a choice of only ONE cookbook out of my collection, this is the one I'd choose.

All told, if you can eat it "Stocking Up" will show you how to preserve it.

 

I have an old roommate whose nickname is the pickler, I'm not sure if it was because I lined the windows with pickle jars in our place or what... I don't even know what you mix with the stuff to get it to pickle, what do you usually put in the jars?

 

The old fashioned way to pickle was by lacto-fermentation. Try googling "fermenting peppers."
Two books with recipes for fermenting are, "Nourishing Traditions," and 'Wild Fermentation."
There is an online forum called Wild Fermentation.
I do a lot of pickling this way. It's way healthier.

 

Is is possible to ferment peppers into alcohol?

 

You probably can, but there's much MUCH easier ways to make alcohol. The sister site homebrewtalk.com is all about making beer, cider, and wine. Also check out winemakingtalk.com as well.

 

Preserving milk? Wow, gotta check that out!
How exactly do they pickle cucumbers into pickles?

 

I cheat when making pickles, as I don't have the time to ferment them. I will have to admit that mine are not as crisp as ones fermented, but the taste is very good.

To make sweet pickle juice, I use a ratio of 1 part water, 1 part vinegar (make sure it is at least 5% acidity), and 1/2 to 3/4 part sugar. Slice or chunk your cucumbers into sterilized jars, bring the above mixture to a boil, and pour over the cucumbers, leaving 1" headspace. Seal with sterilized lids and bands, and process in a hot water bath canner for 15 minutes. If any jars fail to seal, redo or refrigerate. Let sit for six weeks before eating.

To make dills, I use 2 parts water to 1 part vinegar, and do as above, except add 1 teaspoon of dried or 1 flower head of dill. I use this for everything from cucumbers to green beans and okra. simple, but good.

 

Hi
I have saved various bits of info from the web about pickling, which I can post.

I also grow chillis and have been think about pickling. Here is the method I am going to use:

Pickling Chilies

There are a few basic rules to follow when pickling:-

*Sterilize jars and lids in a boiling water bath for 10 to15 minutes. This is best done at home by bringing a large pot to the boil with an inch or two of water. Jars are then placed, mouth down, into the water, along with the lids which can just be set between the jars. Turn down the heat just enough to keep the pot slowly boiling or simmering.

* After processing in a boiling water bath, remove jars to a draft-free location and allow to cool for 12 hours before handling.

* Use pickling salt, rather than table salt which contains undesirable (for pickling) additives.

* While cider vinegar is more flavourful, 5 to 6 percent distilled white vinegar should be used to avoid discolouring the chillies.

* Do not boil the vinegar for a long period of time as that will reduce the acidity.

* Poke or cut a hole in each chilli to keep it from floating and also to allow the pickling solution to work into the entire chilli.

*After filling each jar, remove any trapped air with a spatula or knife blade inserted between the chillies and the wall of the jar, or by gently tapping the jar.

Hope this gives you a start...

 

Ok, I havent canned in years, just getting back into it for this coming season, but I am going to disagree with some of your post. To sterilize the jars, you should put them in the pot, mouth up, and cover with hot water and bring it to a boil for 10 min if you are below 1000 feet altitude . If you put the jars in mouth down they will not fill with water and will bob around and clink on each other.
I have also never heard of allowing them to cool for 12 hours. I was taught to use the jars immediately after sterilization, while still hot. If you try putting the hot vinegar mixture into cold jars, you stand the chance of breaking a jar from the sudden temp change.

 

I ordered a copy off of Barnes and Noble this morning, can't wait for it to get here. Also ordered the newest copy of the Ball Blue book from ebay. Mine is copyrighted in 1997, and it has been about that long since I did any canning and preserving.
Just wish I could figure out what happened to all my canning jars and parphernalia. That is going to be a big expense, but I have my eye on the thrift stores and scored around a dozen quarts and 10 pints for 6 bucks this week. And a beat up looking juice strainer for a dollar.

 

I bow to a higher authority It is simply what I have found on the web. You are probably right though. I'll try and quote from more informed sources next time...

 

Well, most of your stuff seemed common sense and good ideas. I just had pictures in my head of your jars bobbing up and down, crashing against each other.
If you want to get into putting stuff up, I do recommend getting a copy of the Ball Blue Book of Preserving and Canning. It not only covers canning and preserving, it also covers dehydrating. Some of the stuff you can find on the net is very good, but some of it is actually unsafe. While I have no problems water bath preserving in glass mayo jars, I do have problems with the canned cake and canned butter recipes you find on the net. Not to say they are totally unsafe, but since I have actually put up tomatoes in mayo jars with no problems, but haven't canned butter or cake, well............. you go with you are comfortable with.