How do I process family pickles - Ask Extension
My mother (a long-ago OSU home ec grad) never processed her dill pickles. She said the salt would preserve them and processing was unneeded. I've been...
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How do I process family pickles #875823
Asked July 03, 2024, 2:10 PM EDT
My mother (a long-ago OSU home ec grad) never processed her dill pickles. She said the salt would preserve them and processing was unneeded. I've been making and eating them for years, but now I'm afraid to give them away. What's the right way to make dill pickles, and would processing make them less crisp?
Deschutes County Oregon
Expert Response
Hi Janet. Thanks for contacting Ask Extension. There are two ways to make dill pickles safely and successfully. You can ferment (brine) them in a salt solution for several weeks or make the quick pickle version where bottled vinegar (5% acid) is a key ingredient.
The fermented dill pickles can be kept in the brine in the original container for 4 to 6 months at temperatures lower than 55 degrees (if you have an unheated basement or root cellar this is usually the top temperature). Now days, though, many folks need to keep them refrigerated when peak pickle quality is reached to slow fermentation and keep them crisp.
If you use the recipes to make fermented or quick pickles in our publication, Pickling Vegetables, they can be canned for storage in the pantry. We also have some sweet pickle recipes that are partially fermented before they are canned in this publication. If your family recipe is a quick pickle recipe you can look on page 9 for some tips to update it and assure it is safe from risk of botulism. CAUTION: The National Center for Home Food Preservation conducted research and notes there is one dill pickle recipe that is at risk of listeria poisoning. This unsafe recipe is fermented in a salt brine at room temperature for a week then refrigerated for consumption.
Pickling Vegetables is free to view or download online. Free print copies are available at our OSU Extension office in Redmond.
Ball has some refrigerator pickle recipes in their Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. Look for the 2024 version if you are interested in purchasing a copy. It should be available in stores soon if it isn't already.
The fermented dill pickles can be kept in the brine in the original container for 4 to 6 months at temperatures lower than 55 degrees (if you have an unheated basement or root cellar this is usually the top temperature). Now days, though, many folks need to keep them refrigerated when peak pickle quality is reached to slow fermentation and keep them crisp.
If you use the recipes to make fermented or quick pickles in our publication, Pickling Vegetables, they can be canned for storage in the pantry. We also have some sweet pickle recipes that are partially fermented before they are canned in this publication. If your family recipe is a quick pickle recipe you can look on page 9 for some tips to update it and assure it is safe from risk of botulism. CAUTION: The National Center for Home Food Preservation conducted research and notes there is one dill pickle recipe that is at risk of listeria poisoning. This unsafe recipe is fermented in a salt brine at room temperature for a week then refrigerated for consumption.
Pickling Vegetables is free to view or download online. Free print copies are available at our OSU Extension office in Redmond.
Ball has some refrigerator pickle recipes in their Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. Look for the 2024 version if you are interested in purchasing a copy. It should be available in stores soon if it isn't already.
