My promise: You will not end up with sweet pickles.

PSA: If you like vinegar flavored pickles, it goes without saying that you can ignore this!

Keeping that tart garlic-dill style taste is tough when your vinegar is loitering. (Shouldn’t you be in school..?) Cut it out with a bit of sugar using these two methods. This first recipe addition will work for all vinegar based refrigerator and canned pickles. Pickled carrots, beets, chard stalks, onions, as long as you like it tart, you’ll love this! Your spices will taste the same, your pickles will taste the same, the ONLY thing this changes is how much vinegar flavor makes it through to your brine and pickles. To show you what I mean, I’ll talk you through a basic refrigerator quick-pickle brine.

Method One

Step one:

Wash a sauce pan that is at least twice the volume of your brine, and fill it with your brine ingredients (usually something like water, vinegar, salt). Let it boil (TICK TOCK I DON’T HAVE ALL DAY!).

Step two:

Once that has started to boil, most recipes will have you let it boil for an amount of time and then pour it into your jars. That is the next step! This step requires you to let it boil for a minute, then add a pinch of sugar for every 2 cups (16 fluid ounces) of liquid. It will bubble up violently. This is why we use a larger pan. Be careful. Note: My brine recipe requires half water and half vinegar. Use two pinches sugar if you are using a full two cups of vinegar. You may add too much or too little. Practice makes perfect when you have your own recipes!

Step 3:

Let it boil for the rest of the required time. A small pinch or two of sugar will not burn when boiled, it will not carmelize in such a high volume of liquid. Now simply follow your recipe through to it’s end.

Boom! A delicious brine that allows your spices to shine through. For a basic pickle recipe that you can tinker with, try this one!

Method Two

You’ve heard of read it and weep, how about leave it and wait!? It takes just one to one and a half weeks for a brine to “cure”, that is, for the flavors to become completely incorporated and mixed into the brine solution. At the end of this time you should smell a beautiful aroma, something similar to what you get at a store. It will be a religious experience, finding you’ve become a master of pickle-cuterie!

What’s the weirdest pickle ingredient you’ve ever seen?

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