Super Easy Quick Pickled Carrots Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How does quick pickling work? ›

In fermentation, good bacteria turn sugars into lactic acid, which preserves the food product. In quick pickling, the cold of the fridge lets the vinegary flavors of the brine marinate with the fruits or vegetables (and added spices) while forestalling the bacteria growth.

The first step in making pickling carrots is to wash and peel them. In theory, you could pickle your carrots without peeling them. But unless the carrots are young and small, the skins can taste bitter, so I recommend peeling all but the smallest before pickling.

Pickling doesn't have to be a long process involving canning and special supplies. If you have vegetables that would be good pickled, like onions, garlic, carrots or green beans, toss them in the jar of leftover pickle juice, and see what happens. They'll make a nice addition to a charcuterie platter or Blood Mary.

The flavors will deepen and intensify the longer it marinates. Best flavor is achieved after 24 hours. Will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks (sometimes longer). Not freezer friendly.

The classic ratio is super easy to remember and is easily scale-able depending on how many pickles you're making. It's 100% vinegar, 50% water, 25% sugar and 12.5% kosher salt by weight. So for example, 200g vinegar, 100g water, 50g sugar and 25g kosher salt (again, you can scale this up or down!).

Use this BA-endorsed formula as a brine base for pretty much everything: Bring 1 cup distilled white vinegar, 2 Tbsp. kosher salt, 2 tsp. sugar, up to 2 Tbsp. spices (e.g., peppercorns, coriander seeds, and/or mustard seeds), and 2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan.

Most pickle recipes call for distilled white vinegar. This is the clear, colorless vinegar made by fermenting grains. It has a mellow aroma, tart acid flavor and does not affect the color of light-colored vegetables or fruits.

No, there are other methods for pickling, including quick pickling and refrigerator pickling. But this pickling method does call for boiling the brine. This process helps bloom the flavors of the ingredients and help speed up the pickling process when it's added to the fresh vegetables or fruit.

Sugar in pickling is used to balance the tartness of the vinegar. Although the sugar can be eliminated from pickle recipes, the pickles are likely to be too sour. Note: Under no circ*mstances should the amount of vinegar be decreased or diluted to compensate for less sugar.

For quick pickles, a basic brine is equal parts vinegar and water, but you can adjust the ratio to your preference. Any basic vinegar is game — white vinegar, apple cider, white wine, and rice vinegar all work well. You can use these vinegars alone or in combination.

Can I use lemon juice instead of vinegar for pickling? ›

Pickling involves steeping foods in an acidic liquid, usually vinegar. This gives the pickled foods a distinctive flavor and helps to preserve them. If you don't like the flavor of vinegar or simply have an abundance of lemons, you can use lemon juice instead of vinegar for your pickling projects.

Add cut-up raw carrots, celery sticks, broccoli and cauliflower florets, and red and green pepper strips directly to the jar of any type of leftover pickle juice. Make sure to keep these tangy tidbits refrigerated.

A cloudy appearance or a white sediment may indicate the use of table salt rather than canning or pickling salt. Yeast develops and settles to the bottom of the jar. It may be a normal reaction during fermentation caused by bacteria. If the pickles are soft, they are spoiled from the yeast fermentation.

Visible mold: This is an obvious sign that your pickles have gone bad. Unusually sour taste and smell: If things smell and taste a bit more sour than usual, in an unpleasant way, this may not be a good sign. If you're not liking the taste anyway, it may be time to toss those pickles.

Yes, it's perfectly normal for your lacto-fermentation brine to become slightly opaque and whitish. It's not dangerous! Some vegetables, like beans or pickles, will turn the brine white in a few days. This means that the good bacteria are doing their job!

Quick pickling is simply the act of storing fresh produce in a brine of vinegar, salt, water, and sometimes sugar, in the refrigerator. These pickles are not canned and are ready to eat mere hours after making, though I usually wait at least a day or two.

Traditional pickle making includes canning, which uses high temperatures to sterilize and create an airtight seal that further preserves the contents from spoilage. Quick pickling uses the same basic ingredients as traditional pickling but you skip the canning process and store them in your refrigerator.

Quick pickles last for a few days in the refrigerator. Canned pickles, on the other hand, use a stronger brine (remember the minimum 5 % acidity) and a water bath canning process to make them shelf stable for a longer time.

Pickle Brine vs.

Typical pickle brine is a solution of about 5 to 7% salt and anywhere from 1:1 to 1.5:1 vinegar to water. Quickles, on the other hand, typically have a higher salt and vinegar content. A quickle brine is an 8 to 10% salt solution with a 1.5:1 to 2:1 vinegar content.