Make quick pickles
A quick pickle is vegetables in a salty, sweet vinegar brine. A common mix is equal parts vinegar and water, plus a spoonful each of salt and sugar. Salt draws water out of the vegetable while brine moves in.
Slice thickness and brine temperature
Slices about 3 mm thick pickle in about 30 minutes. Thick chunks can take a day. Hot brine is faster but softens vegetables, and cooled brine keeps more crunch. Keep them in the fridge.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
What does the salt in a quick pickle brine do first?
Draws out water and seasons the vegetable. Water moves out of the vegetable as salty brine moves in.
True or false: A quick pickle needs weeks of fermenting before you can eat it.
False. Vinegar supplies the acid, so quick pickles are ready in 30 minutes to a few hours, while fermenting takes days.
What went wrong? You make quick pickled onions from thick chunks. After an hour they still taste raw.
Thick pieces take much longer for the brine to reach the center. Thin slices pickle through quickly.
Fill the blank: Refrigerated quick pickles keep for about ___.
Refrigerated quick pickles keep for about 2 to 4 weeks. They aren't canned, so eat them within a few weeks.
How do you keep quick pickles crunchier?
Use cooled brine over thin, firm slices. Less heat means less softening.
Hot brine vs cold brine pickles
Does heat make a pickle softer?
Do the 20-minute experiment
