How to Make Quick Pickles

It’s a dilemma. How do you take advantage of all the best garden and farmer’s market veggies before they go bad? The answer is quick-pickling. This process truly is a fast way to have tangy, salty, crispy, and crunchy pickles in as little as an hour with tools you already have on hand. Another perk? Any of your favorite (or most plentiful) vegetables are prime for pickling. Just keep in mind that thinner-skinned produce like cucumbers, zucchini, or corn works best. Try your hand at making your own Quick Dill Pickles.

Pickling basics:

SALT gives pickles their signature crispness and crunch. It also draws out the vegetables’ natural liquids. That liquid is then replaced when the vegetables soak in the brine, infusing them with flavor.

ACID is essential to pickling because it prevents or delays spoilage. Vinegar is the most common acid used to pickle, but other acids such as liquors and alcohol (think bourbon and gin) work, too. If you go with vinegar, it’s best to use one with at least 5% acidity, like distilled white vinegar — it won’t cloud your pickling liquid or discolor your vegetables. Cider vinegar and wine vinegars add color and flavor.

NONREACTIVE PANS, bowls, and crocks are a must to avoid giving the pickling liquids off flavors from the acids reacting with certain metals. Stainless steel, ceramic, and glass all work well. Stay away from containers made of aluminum, copper, or iron.