Quick Pickles

Pretty much any vegetable will work for a quick pickle, but my favorites are:

Red onion
Carrots
Garlic
Pepperoncinis
Beets
Hard boiled eggs

Spices and additions for this are also a bit choose-your-own-adventure, but my favorites are:

Chili flakes
Garlic
Mustard seed
Peppercorns
Dill

Ingredients

NOTE: All of these should be adjusted to taste. This is a very generic recipe and I highly recommend searching around to get an idea for how people do it for certain foods or types of veggies.

Food to pickle, enough to pack your jar fully with your spices and additions
- For most vegetables, chopped in to smallish pieces so the pickling liquid can get all the way in there
- For beets and other more dense vegetables, prepare them by boiling until tender, and then chop into pieces
- For anything else, do some research and see what other people do.
Spices and additions (for amounts, look up recipes, there are a zillion variations, but you can also just eyeball)
Equal parts vinegar and water, combined (stronger flavors should move towards full vinegar; use whatever vinegar you think will be best; water should be unchlorinated, so let rest on the counter for an hour or so to dechlorinate)
3-4% of food's weight in salt (adjust to taste, check other recipes)
3-4% of food's weight in sugar (again, adjust to taste)
Some pickled cucumber recipes call for ~1 tsp of loose-leaf black tea to aid the crunch, but I've never done it

Cookware

Pot for boiling
Optional: large tempered or heat-safe bowl, if wanting a less crunchy pickle
Mason-style jar for storing, cleaned and sanitized
Refrigerator, if wanting long-term storage

Instructions

Pack and evenly distribute the food to pickle and spices and additions in the jars, leaving a small amount of room at the top. If you want the end result less crunchy, add only the spices and additions and hold the food to pickle for later.
Add liquid ingredients, salt, and sugar to pot, and stir until dissolved. Bring to boil.
Optional: if you wanted a less crunchy pickle, add them to the brine now and boil them for a couple minutes. Note that this makes packing quite a bit more laborious
Pour the brine over the packed jars, leaving about a half inch of room at the top. You may not use all the brine.
Remove the air bubbles by tapping the bottom of the jars against a counter or table. Leaving these may result in a more quickly spoiled pickle.
Seal the jars and let them cool. Once cooled, you can place them in the fridge for better flavor over time, or start chowing down.
Once they have been opened, they have a higher chance of spoiling, so be sure to dig in once you start. Store them out of sunlight, as this can grow bad bacteria.

References

Incoming Links

Last modified: 202409012329