Preserving the Harvest & Recipes for Canning

tickled when pickled

Most people know that jarred pickles purchased in a grocery store start out as cucumbers. It’s a snap to make your own pickles from your garden "cukes." In fact, you can pickle just about anything edible — as long as you follow a few basic guidelines to ensure satisfactory results as well as food safety.

Unless otherwise stated in a recipe, always use white vinegar or pickling vinegar, which respectively possess between five and seven percent acidity. Other vinegars, while desirable in some recipes, may darken or soften some foods. The same goes for pickling salt and white granulated sugar since ordinary table salt and brown sugar may also cause unappealing color changes in pickled fruits and vegetables. However, as you will soon discover from the recipes that follow, other vinegars and sugars enhance the flavor of certain pickled foods. The key thing to remember is to follow the recipe as written and avoid the temptation to substitute an acidic or sweetening ingredient for another.

Be just as fickle when you pickle (or can) when it comes to cookware. Always use non-reactive materials, such as glass, enamel or stainless steel. In particular, avoid using aluminum cookware when using highly acidic ingredients (i.e., vinegar) because of the potential for aluminum to leach from pot to product. Some experts claim that anodized aluminum cookware is safe. It may be, but why take the risk at all?