By Mary Parker Draper, Extension Agent – Smith County
School is starting back, but summer doesn’t have to end. The delicious fruits and vegetables of summer can last all year with food preservation. Pickling is one way to preserve the summer harvest. Extension Explores, a live food preservation class on Zoom, will focus on Pickled Fruits and Vegetables in August. If you can’t wait until the live session, there are a few things you should know before you begin.
Whether you are pickling fruit or vegetables, always select produce that is fresh, firm, and free of spoilage. You can use odd-shaped or more mature cucumbers for relishes and bread-and-butter style pickles. After washing your cucumbers, cut 1/16-inch slice off the blossom end to help with firmness.
In addition to cutting off the blossom end, there are also firming agents that can be used but are not required. Alum (Potassium Aluminum Sulfate) is a food additive that can help to create a crisp pickled product. It can be safely used in fermented pickles, but it does not improve the firmness in quick-process pickles. Calcium can also increase firmness. You can use pickling lime or other calcium-based pickling products. If using pickling lime, it is important to remove excess lime by rinsing and re-soaking the cucumbers.
As you select your other ingredients, use canning or pickling salt. Other salts may have non-caking materials added that can make the brine cloudy. White distilled and cider vinegars with 5% acidity are recommended, but white vinegar is usually used due to the color.
You may also wonder about different pickle processes. Regular dill pickles are fermented and cured for about three weeks. Refrigerator dill pickles are fermented for one week. Fresh pack or quick-process pickles are not fermented. You can find safe, tested recipes for each type of procedure from USDA and the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
Join the University of Tennessee Extension on Zoom to learn more about pickled vegetables and fruits on Friday, August 20th at 10:00 a.m. To register, visit https://tiny.utk.edu/ExtensionExplores21.
For more information on this or other family topics, contact Mary Draper, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent for UT Extension in Smith County, at 615-735-2900.
Cornbread Squash Casserole
4 cups cooked squash (with salt, pepper, and onion, to taste)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
1 medium skillet of cornbread
1 stick butter
Mix cream of mushroom soup and sour cream into cooked squash that has been removed from heat. Cook a medium skillet of cornbread and crumble. Layer crumbled cornbread on bottom of casserole dish, then squash mixture, then top with another layer of cornbread. Melt a stick of butter and pour over casserole. Heat in a 350° oven until hot and bubbly, about 20 minutes. Submitted by Janie Mundy, Defeated FCE Club.
