Quick vinegar pickles

Why

Vinegar lowers the pH of the vegetables and the brine, and at pH 4.6 or below the spores of Clostridium botulinum, which produces deadly botulinum toxin, cannot germinate; this protection only holds when there is enough acid and it penetrates all of the vegetables. That is why pickling uses vinegar of known acidity, tested recipes assume 5 % and usually at least as much vinegar as water, and the ratio of vinegar, water and vegetables is not changed; for a milder taste add more sugar, don't dilute the vinegar with water. Quick-pickled vegetables kept in the fridge are not preserves, because they are not heat-treated: they keep cold only as long as the recipe says, usually a few weeks, whereas jars for the pantry need a tested recipe and a water-bath process, which is a different technique. Crunch is lost to heat and to enzymes that break down the pectin in cell walls; hot brine partly cooks the vegetables, the blossom end of a cucumber contains an enzyme that softens it, and calcium, on the other hand, firms the pectin. Cloudy brine is often caused by the anti-caking agent in salt or by ground spices, but pickles that go soft during storage, turn slimy or smell foul are spoiled.

How to do it

• Use vinegar with the acidity stated on the label and keep to the recipe's ratio of vinegar, water and salt; soften a too-sharp brine with sugar, not water.
• Use salt without anti-caking agent, otherwise the brine turns cloudy; replace ground spices with whole ones.
• Cut about 2 mm off the blossom end of cucumbers; for extra crunch you can first leave them in ice water for 4–5 hours.
• For the crispest cucumbers lukewarm or cooled brine is enough; pour hot brine over onions or firmer vegetables you want slightly softened.
• Work in glass, stainless steel or enamel and don't leave brine standing in uncoated aluminium; copper, brass, galvanised and iron pans react with vinegar.
• Keep the jar closed in the fridge and eat it within the time the recipe gives, usually a few weeks; pickling for the pantry is canning and needs a tested recipe with heat processing.

If it goes wrong

Pickles softened by hot brine will not get crisp again; but if they go soft during storage, are slimy, slippery, mouldy or the brine smells bad, throw out the whole jar with its brine and don't taste it. Cloudy brine without an off smell is usually just from the salt or spices. Blue or green garlic in the brine is a harmless colour reaction, more common with fresh, immature garlic. Serve vegetables that are too sour drained, with oil, yoghurt or cream; but don't dilute brine for storage with water.