Pickling Vegetables

Dill pickles go well with a cheese sarnie

January and February are seen to be the favourite time for us gardeners to browse the seed catalogues for this year’s crops. There is something very satisfying looking at the pretty pictures of healthy vegetables, then ordering far too many varieties to be able to grow without totally ignoring the spacing recommendations. Or is that just me?

There is an element of wishful thinking and forward planning though when ordering seeds and what better time to think about ordering a few vegetables that you will be able to use for pickling so you can enjoy the fruits of your labour all year around from the convenience of a glass jar. So not only could you look for particular pickle friendly varieties of your favourite veg, you can also start saving any glass jars with sealable lids that you find – You will need them.

Pickles

You can pickle most vegetables. Someone gave me a lovely jar of home grown pickled beetroot this week which got my thinking I should do my own again. I did make pickled onions and beetroot for a long time but eventually took to buying the mass produced ones from the shops as they were more convenient. They aren’t the same as your own home made ones though. Cheaper to buy than make maybe but you can’t put a price on the smug satisfaction you get knowing there are no artificial preservatives or added chemicals in the mix of your own produce.  So this year I’ll be doing at least a jar or two of onions.

Excellent pickles rely on high-quality, fresh ingredients. Producing your own means you can choose the very best produce and opens the door to exploring many different flavours and effects that can be achieved through spicing and fermentation.  Some say you can pickle almost any veg providing it is fresh and unblemished and others generally make their pickles from the oddments, mishapes and damaged crops  that won’t store well as they can be cleaned and chopped up so no-one is any the wiser.

Good pickling is about suspending veg at its peak in clear animation: to preserve and even boost its nutritional content. 

How long to keep your pickles before eating

Recipes vary enormously with some refrigerator or quick pickles being ready to eat within a day or two. Others, such as raw pickled onions, need six months or more to mature and delicacies like lime pickle can improve with years.

As a rough guide, veg sliced thinly or with a high water and sugar content requires less pickling time than those with more starch and larger proportions. Pickles matured for less time will generally be crunchier and punchier than those that have been left to mature, so a good rule is to go with what you like. Provided the pickles have been prepared and sealed carefully they will keep for a long time

You might only need around four or five cups so of cut vegetables to make enough jars to last the year.

Making the Pickles. An introduction

Salt Soak

The first step in making pickled vegetables is to soak them in salt or a strong saltwater solution for at least 3 hours, or sometimes overnight. Some moisture is drawn from the tissues, which helps to preserve crisp texture through the pickling process. Sea salt is preferred, then rinse the vegetables in cold water several times to remove excess salt when the soaking time is up. 

Vinegar Brine

The liquid in pickles is comprised of vinegar, sugar and sometimes water, along with subtle spicy flavours that give pickles their tanginess. You can use either clear distilled vinegar or amber-coloured malt or cider vinegar, depending on the results you want. 

Pickling Jars

After washing and removing the sticky label place the jars in an oven, you can get the herbs and spices ready for seasoning the pickles as the jars sterilize. There are all sorts of things you can use depending on your taste, garlic, dill, coriander, anything goes.

Sealing

There are methods to process the jars by placing them in hot water to seal them up. I’ve never done this so if you feel the need I would do a bit of research first.

Some Vegetables to Pickle

• Radishes- any will do
• Cucumbers - Small, firm-fleshed Kirby cucumbers work best here.
• Carrots – Cut them up into ribbons so the vinegar soaks through them.
• Red and white onions
• Red Cabbage
• Cauliflower – guaranteed to be crunchy
• Green beans -pickled for an irresistible snack
• Aubergine- Sliced thinly

As I mentioned, you could pickle almost anything so it’s a great opportunity to have a play when you have abundance.