preserving the perfect pickle

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Grow It Eat It Preserve It! Dills, Sweets, Kraut, Relishes and Other Foods Preserving the Perfect Pickle

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Dills, Sweets, Kraut, Relishes and Other Foods. Preserving the Perfect Pickle. Overview. Types of pickled products The process Ingredients Equipment. Pickled Products. Brined or fermented pickles Cured in brine (salt and water) solution for one or more weeks - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Dills, Sweets, Kraut, Relishesand Other Foods

Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Page 2: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Overview• Types of pickled products• The process• Ingredients• Equipment

Page 3: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Pickled Products• Brined or fermented pickles

• Cured in brine (salt and water) solution for one or more weeks

• Either produce an acid or you add an acid

• Fresh pack or quick process pickles• Sometimes brined for a few hours• Covered with boiling hot vinegar,

spices and seasonings (adding an acid)

Page 4: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Other Pickles• Fruit pickles

• Whole or sliced fruits• Simmered in a spicy, sweet-sour

syrup made with vinegar or lemon juice

• Relishes• Chopped fruits and vegetables• Cooked in a spicy vinegar solution

Page 5: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

What kind of pickles did Aunt Bee make?1. Use a brine that is less heavy

2. Add extra sprig of parsley or two steeped in the vinegar

3. Use younger cucumbers4. Drain them more5. Use fresher spices6. Boil the vinegar two seconds

more

Fresh pack

or

quick process

Page 6: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

What Makes a Pickle a Pickle?

• Form an acid• Brined• Fermented• Produces “lactic acid”

• Acid is added• Vinegar• Lemon Juice

Page 7: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Why Add Acid?

• Do not need to be pressure canned if they have a pH of 4.6 or lower

• A pH of 4.6 or less will not support growth of Clostridium botulinum

Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation

Page 8: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Why Process in Water Bath?

• Kills spoilage organisms • Yeasts• Molds• Bacteria

• Controls enzyme activity• Flavor• Color • Texture Source: USDA Complete Guide

to Home Canning

Page 9: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Ingredients in Pickling

• Produce• Salt• Vinegar• Sugar• Spices• Water• Firming agents

Page 10: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Produce

• Tender vegetables and firm fruit, selected by size

• Pickling cucumbers (not “table” or “slicing”), unwaxed

• Pickle within 24 hours after picking for best quality

• Wash well• Discard produce with mold

Page 11: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Salt• Pure granulated salt

• “pickling” salt• “canning” salt

• No anti-caking materials• Do not alter salt concentrations• Do not reduce salt in a recipe

unless it is in a tested recipe using less salt—salt is a preservative

Page 12: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Vinegar• Preservative• Cider or white vinegar

• Cider vinegar can discolor light produce

• White distilled for onions, cauliflower and pears

• 5% acidity• Use amount stated in recipe

Page 13: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Sugar• White sugar unless recipe states

brown• Sugar substitutes

• Can develop off-flavor or bitterness

• Can lose sweetening properties

• Follow tested recipes specific to the type of sugar substitute

Page 14: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Spices• Use fresh whole spices for best

quality and flavor• Powdered spices can make pickles

dark and cloudy• Tie whole spices in a

clean white cloth or cheesecloth bag, removebefore packing jars

Page 15: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Water

• Drinking quality or “potable”• Soft water is preferred

• Iron: discoloration• Calcium: shriveling• Boil hard water for

15 minutes and let stand, covered, for 24 hours

Page 16: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Firming Agents• Not needed when

• Good quality ingredients are used• Up-to-date methods are used

• Soak cucumbers in ice water for 4 to 5 hours

• Cut 1/16-inch off blossom end

Page 17: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Blossom End of a Cucumber

Blossom End Stem End

Page 18: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Lime• Calcium in lime does improve

firmness• Use food grade pickling lime (not

agricultural or burnt lime)• Soak cucumbers in lime-water

solution 12 to 24 hours before pickling

• Excess lime absorbed by the cucumbers must be removed to make safe pickles

Do not inhale dust

Page 19: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

To Remove Excess Lime• Drain lime-water solution• Rinse• Re-soak in fresh water 1 hour• Repeat rinsing and soaking two

more times• Failure to remove lime

adequately may increase the risk for botulism

Page 20: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Alum

• Aluminum potassium sulfate• Can be safely used, but not

recommended• Used for fermented pickles, does not

work for quick process• Powdered form found in spice

section of grocery stores

Page 21: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Food Scales

• Recipe specifies ingredients by weight

• Important for pickledproducts

Page 22: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Pans• Heat liquids in

• Stainless steel• Aluminum• Glass• Unchipped enamelware

• Do not use• Copper• Brass• Galvanized or iron utensils

Page 23: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Fermenting and Brining• Small quantities: crock or stone jar,

unchipped enamelware, large glass jar or bowl

• Large quantities: enamel, glass or paraffin-lined keg or barrel

• Cover for container• An undersized lid to hold food below

surface of brine• Food-grade plastic bag

• When using lime, do not soak in an aluminum container

Page 24: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Process in Water-Bath Canner

Page 25: Preserving the Perfect Pickle

Grow It Eat It Preserve It!

Pickle Principles

1. Do not alter vinegar, food, or water proportions in a recipe or use a vinegar with unknown acidity.

2. Use only recipes with tested proportions of ingredients.

3. There must be a minimum, uniform level of acid throughout the mixed product to prevent the growth of C. botulinum bacteria.