Quick and Easy Dill Pickle Recipe (2023)

FAQs

What are the 3 basic ingredients in pickling? ›

They are simply vegetables that are pickled in a vinegar, water, and salt (sometimes sugar, too) solution and stored in the refrigerator. Quick pickles don't develop the deep flavor that fermented pickles do, but they also only require a few days in the brine before they can be enjoyed.

Most pickle recipes call for distilled white vinegar. This is the clear, colorless vinegar made by fermenting grains. It has a mellow aroma, tart acid flavor and does not affect the color of the light-colored vegetables or fruits.

The basic ratio for quick pickles is 1:1 vinegar to water, and includes some combination of salt and sugar. Another ratio that is commonly followed is the 3:2:1 method, using three parts vinegar, two parts water, and 1 part sugar.

Essential Ingredients and Ratios for a Pickling Liquid

To create a pickling liquid, boil the following ingredients: 1/2 cup acid (typically white vinegar) 1/2 cup water. 1 teaspoon salt.

The technique—a version of vinegar pickling that doesn't require a full canning process—produces briny, crunchy pickled vegetables in just a couple hours. Heat the brine until sugar and salt dissolve, then pour it over the vegetables and let them cool in the jar—voila, pickles.

The Process

Vinegar-based pickling is a much faster process than fermentation pickling. In its quickest form, you'll just boil a vinegar solution, pour it over the the object of your pickling desire, let it all cool and stash it in the fridge.

Cucumbers can be fermented in a crock to produce genuine dill pickles. Fermenting genuine dill pickles takes 3 to 4 weeks at 70°F. The fermentation process allows bacteria to produce lactic acid, which preserves the cucumbers and produces the characteristic color and texture of genuine dills.

A general rule is 2/3 vinegar to 1/3 water when making brine. This ratio will result in an acidic enough base for whatever vegetable you choose to pickle. Other recipes may have a lighter vinegar brine but you must follow the exact recipe when using those or risk spoilage.

Pour your pickle liquid into a pan, bring to the boil, and allow to simmer for three minutes. Then, set aside to cool.

Do you use 5 or 7 vinegar for pickling? ›

For pickling, the recommended vinegar to use is one with 5% acidity. This is also known as 50 grain vinegar. While most vinegars are at 5% acidity, some are not.

You will need a recipe, most of which will tell you to salt your sliced cucumbers and let them sit for about 3 hours (more is better). This salt treatment draws water out of the cucumbers and flavors them, so it's critically important.

Calcium chloride (CaCl2), sometimes known as «pickle crisp», is a type of salt that helps keep food crunchy. It is used in the food industry to help maintain the texture of canned fruit and vegetables. Sea salt is sodium chloride. We are talking about calcium chloride!

As Serious Eats explains, a common ingredient in dill pickle-flavored chips is maltodextrin, which is a powder derived from starch that has porous qualities and can absorb flavors such as vinegar. This gives pickle chips that mouth-puckering addictive quality that salt and vinegar chips have.

To be on the safe side, we wouldn't recommend reusing it more than once, although some say you can safely reuse it 2 or 3 times. Again, watch for changes in the clarity of the brine. BONUS!

Cooking uses: Apple cider vinegar and white vinegar are both popular ingredient choices for salad dressings, vinaigrettes, marinades, or seasonings for veggies like beets. White vinegar is clearer and more acidic, making it a better choice for pickling vegetables.

Acetic acid (vinegar) is the primary ingredient used in pickle manufacturing. After water, it makes up the bulk of the pickle liquor and contributes significantly to the flavor of the pickle giving it a sour taste. Additionally, it also has a preservative effect and is nontoxic.

Wait anywhere from three days to a week for the flavor to develop, and the veggies will taste truly pickled. Keep in mind that the longer it brines, the better it tastes!

What are the two main pickling methods? ›

Pickling can be divided into two main categories: chemical pickling and fermentation pickling. In chemical pickling, the food is placed in an edible liquid that kills microorganisms and includes brine (high in salt), vinegar alcohol, or oil.

The temperature can bring out flavors, which leach into the brine. She recommends using hot brine to pickle opaque vegetables or spices such as root vegetables, kabocha squash and garlic. Cold brines are useful if you're looking to preserve the texture and crunch of a vegetable.

Sugar in pickling is used to balance the tartness of the vinegar. Although the sugar can be eliminated from pickle recipes, the pickles are likely to be too sour. Note: Under no circumstances should the amount of vinegar be decreased or diluted to compensate for less sugar.

Most fruit preserves and pickles are sufficiently high in acid to be canned via a method called water bath canning, where jars are submerged in boiling water for a prescribed amount of time. This destroys any pathogens in the food, and creates a seal, thereby rendering the jars shelf-stable.

You may have used vinegar that was too strong. Always use vinegar with 5% acidity for fresh preserving. Using a salt substitute in place of Ball^® Salt for Pickling & Preserving could be the problem. Salt substitutes contain potassium chloride, which is naturally bitter.

Soak Cucumbers In Ice Water Beforehand

If you're not canning your cucumbers immediately, leave them in an ice bath or in your refrigerator overnight to maintain firmness. Doing this before you start canning them will give you the crunchiest pickles you've ever had!

You can pickle any kind of cucumber, but because of the moisture content in slicing and English cucumbers, they will be more mushy but they will still taste great.

Process the pickle jars

That's 10 minutes for pint jars, 15 minutes for quart jars. Set your timer as soon as you see the water start boiling. Remove pot from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove the jars from the water using the lifter or tongs, transferring them back to the kitchen towel or wood cutting board.

Prepare a brine using the ratio of two tablespoons of salt to one quart of water. If it is over 85 degrees in your kitchen, use one extra tablespoon of salt.

How much salt do I need for a quart of pickles? ›

For each quart jar of pickles, you'll need approximately 5 pickling (or Kirby) cucumbers, one tablespoon of pickling salt, one tablespoon of dill seed (or 3 heads of fresh dill, a sprig or two of fresh dill fronds (optional), five black peppercorns, and two nice fat garlic cloves.

Some vegetables, like crunchy carrots and okra, should be boiled a little before pickling. Others, like delicate zucchini and cucumber, don't need to be cooked ahead of time. You should also consider what kind of dish you'll be serving the pickles with.

Processing kills spoilage organisms and insures a good seal on the jar. For processing pickles, does the water in the water bath canner have to be at a hard rolling boil? No. To keep the pickles crisp, have the water in the canner at a gentle simmer.

When it comes to pickling recipes, fine-grain pickling salt is the best choice for a pure, uncloudy brine. On the other hand, kosher salt is ideal for drawing the moisture out of meat and flavoring pasta water.

In it, Smith writes that the correct amount of salt to add to vegetables when pickling is 0.035 by weight. So, for example, if you are pickling 1kg of a vegetable, you would use 35 grams of salt.

However, as the cucumbers sit in the vinegar solution, they release water, diluting the vinegar and raising its pH. So it is not a good idea to re-use the vinegar as you may bring about fermentation in the ensuing batch.

Typical pickling agents include brine (high in salt), vinegar, alcohol, and vegetable oil, especially olive oil but also many other oils can be alternatively used (Lee, 2004). In fermentation pickling the food itself produces the preservation agent, typically by a process that produces lactic acid (Lee, 2004).

There are three general methods for vinegar-brine pickling: quick-pickling, salt-brine pickling and the vinegar-brine soak and rinse method. Within those methods, there exist many variations, recipes and approaches to make things like relishes and chutneys.

Sugar in pickling is used to balance the tartness of the vinegar. Although the sugar can be eliminated from pickle recipes, the pickles are likely to be too sour. Note: Under no circumstances should the amount of vinegar be decreased or diluted to compensate for less sugar.

Sodium benzoate is a common preservative in acid or acidified foods such as fruit juices, syrups, jams and jellies, sauerkraut, pickles, preserves, fruit cocktails, etc.

Why do you soak vegetables in salt water before pickling? ›

The first step in making pickled vegetables is to allow the clean, cut vegetables to soak in salt or a strong saltwater solution for at least 3 hours, or sometimes overnight. As the vegetables swim in salt, some moisture is drawn from the tissues, which helps to preserve crisp texture through the pickling process.

Yes, you should have some sugar, but be wary of recipes that call for more than a ¼ cup of sugar. Your brine should lean salty, not syrupy. If you just use vinegar in your brine, it will be way too sharp, warns Perry.

Processing kills spoilage organisms and insures a good seal on the jar. For processing pickles, does the water in the water bath canner have to be at a hard rolling boil? No. To keep the pickles crisp, have the water in the canner at a gentle simmer.

The pickling process is carried out in one of two ways. One method is through anaerobic fermentation done in a brine that creates lactic acid. The other method is through marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar (acetic acid).