The art of preserving food by soaking it in brine, often with preservative spices such as
garlic added.
While it is possible to pickle many things (e.g.
three bean salad), the most common pickled item is the
cucumber. I node the process from vague recollections of my mother's doing it many, many years ago:
- Make a brine by adding a cup of salt to each quart of water (or 250 ml for each liter). Soak the cucumbers in it overnight.
- Drain off the brine, but don't throw the cucumbers away. If you want to cut them into spears, do it now.
- Start to boil a big pot of water. The pot should be big enough to hold your canning rack.
- Make another brine. Add your spices (garlic, some dill, peppercorns, and a bay leaf or two).
- Decant the brine into open mason jars. Fill only about halfway to leave room for the cucumbers. Make sure each jar gets some of the spices!
- Pack cucumbers into each jar.
- Put a lid on each jar, and the ring that holds the lid on.
- Put the jars in the canning rack. Lower the rack into the pot of boiling water.
- The boiling water will expand the ring, allowing some of the air to escape. When you remove the rack, this will create a vacuum inside each jar as it cools.
- Wait a month, open a jar and enjoy a pickle with lunch!