One of the most popular ways to extend the shelf life of food is to pickle it. Pickling is the process of preserving food by fermentation in brine. Many vegetables are pickled or made into seasonings, such as cucumbers, okra, bell peppers, summer squash, honeydew, watermelon rind, tomatoes, eggs, onions, garlic, etc., etc. Pickling reduces the PH to less than 4.6, which is enough to kill most bacteria and is somewhat easier to do than canning, since vegetables don’t have to be completely sterile to pickle.
You’ll need to purchase some equipment up front, but after your initial investment, you shouldn’t need anything more than a few ingredients to pickle your food. You will need a large pot that is big enough to boil water and mainly submerge the jars to seal them. You can seal the jars one at a time or get something big enough to do several at once. Buy as many 1 QT canning/mason jars as you think you’ll need (I buy them by the case), just make sure they have rings to seal the lids. Although the process isn’t too difficult, it makes sense to make as many jars as possible at once, as long as you have enough vegetables.
Now that you have your equipment and hopefully picked up some fresh greens from your organic garden, you’re ready to pickle. There are thousands of pickle recipes, and different nuances depending on the different vegetables. It would be impossible to cover everything, but there are numerous detailed books on pickling available to give you ideas and guidance. My favorites are a combination of various recipes that I have tried over the years. What follows is a very basic recipe that will work almost with vegetables, but should be considered a pickle recipe:
Ingredients for pickling:
– 7 quart wide mouth jars, lids and rings
– fresh dill (keep the heads on the stalks)
– cucumbers (washed/scrubbed). I use pickling cucumbers, about the size of an average gherkin.
– garlic cloves (jalepenos, small peppers and onions can also be added)
Brine:
– 8 ½ cups of water
– 2 ¼ cups of white vinegar
– ½ cup of salt to pickle
Pickling Instructions:
Do all of this before filling your jars –
1. Wash jars in hot, soapy water. Rinse and fill with hot water. set aside
2. Fill the canning pot halfway with hot tap water. Put on the burner on high heat
3. In a medium saucepan, fit the lids and rings, cover with water, bring to a simmer (should make them sterile).
4. In a large saucepan, bring the brine (water, vinegar, and salt) to a boil. After it boils, turn off the heat.
5. Fill the jars: Place a layer of dill in the bottom of each jar, along with a clove or two of garlic (if using). Tightly load cukes from your fresh organic garden into the jar up to the neck of the jar. You may need 2 coats to achieve this. Put a few more sprigs of dill and garlic on top.
6. Put in brine, leaving about half a centimeter from the top.
7. Screw on the cover with the gasket ring, making sure that it is well sealed.
8. Place the jars in a saucepan (or canner) with water just up to the neck of the jars
9. Bring the water almost to a boil (should be about 15 minutes depending)
10. Remove the jars, place them on a kitchen towel and cover with a kitchen towel and allow to cool.
11. Check the seal (serrated cover). If they’re not sealed, you can try resealing them in near-boiling water.
12. Label jars/lids with contents, date, recipe (so you know which ones you like best).
13. Store in a cool, dark place
Your cucumbers will be ready to eat after 2 weeks and will keep for months. You will find that there is some variation in texture and flavor as they age, so you may end up preferring to age them longer. If you weren’t able to seal any of the jars, you’ll want to refrigerate them right away and you’ll be able to eat the contents after a couple of days. Unsealed jars will not keep well for long.