Quick Pickling Carrots in a Basic Brine
Quick pickling is an easy way to preserve your extra veggies – especially if you have a farm share or a garden, and you wind up with way more veggies than you can possibly consume. I like to quick pickle, over regular-pickling, because I plan to use these veggies within 1-2 months, and I have the space my fridge to store these jars. If you can’t store the jars in your fridge and/or you wont eat them all within 2 months, you’ll want to go for an old-fashioned regular-pickling recipe instead of quick pickling.
I find myself quick pickling everything – beets, carrots, green beans, onions, radishes… and that’s just what you’ll find in my fridge right now. Our farm share gave us LOTS of fresh pickleable veggies this year, which meant a lot of these veggies were turned into pickles. For most of my pickling endeavors, I use the same basic brine recipe, which I’m sharing with you now! I find it keeps the veggies crisp for a long period of time and adds a nice flavor to everything.
This morning we had our first frost (way later than usual!) which meant it was FINALLY time to harvest our carrots! The carrots were TINY, despite living underground for months and months, so I decided to quick pickle them whole using my basic brine recipe.
Basic Brine for Quick Pickling
6 Tbsp. Granulated Sugar
5 Tbsp. Pickling Salt
2 1/2 C. Water
1/2 C. White Vinegar
1 tsp. Pickling Spice Blend
Combine all brine ingredients in a saucepan over medium high heat. Stir until all sugar and salt are dissolved and bring to a boil. Once it boils, turn off the heat and let the brine cool for 5 minutes.
Add all your quick pickling veggies to a clean mason jar. I added my home-grown whole tiny carrots, stems removed. Pour the hot brine over them until the veggies are all submerged, and put the lid on. Put in the refrigerator while the jar is still warm – they’ll be fully pickled in about 3-5 days, depending on the thickness of the veggies. These need to be kept in the refrigerator, and should be eaten within the next 1-2 months.
You can adjust the vinegar, salt, and sugar levels in this recipe to suit your taste. This quick pickle recipe gives a crisp balanced brine that will work for most veggies. Though you may want to use less vinegar and less salt with sweeter veggies, like beets.
What are you pickling this harvest season? Share in the comments below!
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