Dill101: Intro to Pickling and Fermentation
If you’ve ever tried the crunchy funk of a fermented veggie and loved it, this is the place for you. Or if you’ve stumbled across this post looking for a quick pickle recipe — boy, do I have some advice for you.
What’s in a pickle, anyway?
Nearly any vegetable can be dunked in brine, made more delicious and indefinitely preserved for consumption when needed. In a time before refrigeration, pickling or salt-packing were used to preserve nearly every bounty farmers grew.
Pickling anything from cucumbers to cabbage requires acid and there are two distinct ways to acidify to your veggies:
- Add acetic acid in the form of white or apple cider vinegar, this is what we think of as “pickling”.
- Make lactic acid by promoting the growth of acid-producing bacteria, this is a type of “pickling” often referred to as “fermenting”.
Because of the prevalence of industrial vinegars, nearly every pickle you buy in the store is made with acetic acid. Laws around pasteurization and food safety make it difficult for all but a few (Bubbies, to name the only one I can reliably locate) to sell fermented foods in big-box grocery stores.
What’s the difference?
Let’s be real, there’s no right or wrong way to make a pickle. If you’ve had a few bites and want to keep on eating it, you’ve succeeded. Choosing between pickling and fermentation is as simple as understanding your goals for turning vegetables into something briny and magical.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- How long can you wait until the pickles are ready?
If you only have a few days or even a few hours, the answer is clear. You’ll have to make a “quick pickle” by dunking your veggies in a solution of vinegar, salt and pickling spices. Fermentation is takes at least a week, often longer. More to come on this topic. - Does the word probiotic mean anything to you?
If not, keep on packing your pickles in vinegar my friend. If yes, fermented vegetables are the only ones here that contain live probiotics. By packing vegetables in salt water, you are creating an environment that’s great for lactic acid-producing bacteria. These bacteria are the same ones found in yogurt and kefir and give sourdough it’s tang. - Are you into kimchi and kraut?
If you plan to venture down the cabbage path (get it?), I would really urge you to learn more about fermentation. It’s possible to use vinegar to make both kimchi and kraut, but it will not give you the flavor you’re looking for.
If you found (yay!) and enjoyed (dannnggg!) this first post, follow the publication and comment below. I’m working on more content related to pickling and fermentation — including my recipes for kraut, kimchi, curtido and general veggie packing.
Resources
- If you’re looking for a recipe or a great place to get started, check out my post: Dill102: Finding Your Ferment.
- Check out the Bubbies FAQ to learn more about how they do their thing and still sell goods at big-box grocery stores.
- I recently met Jason of Sobremesa at the Burlington, VT farmers market. I definitely recommend giving them a follow on Instagram.
- If you’re looking for quick pickle recipes, check out this one, this one and this one.
Disclaimer: You are the arbiter of the safety of your food. Even under the best conditions, things can go wrong with your pickles or ferments. The best advice I ever received was that the “nose knows.” Fermentation is an acquired taste, but if it doesn’t smell like something you want to put in your face, don’t eat it.
I recommend visiting the resources at Cultures for Health or check out the scum appendix in Fermented Vegetables by Chris and Kirsten Shockey* for more information on ferments gone rogue.
*This site is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Though I earn a commission for any sale generated here, I will only recommend books I’ve read or products I’ve used in my kitchen.
