Pickled / Brined / Oil Soaked Goods

These are vegetables, fruit and flower buds kept by acid, salt or heat processing in a sealed jar, sometimes under oil. Examples are cucumbers soured in brine or vinegar, capers in salt and artichokes in olive oil.

How to choose Pickled / Brined / Oil Soaked Goods

  • Fermented or fresh-pack. Fermented dill pickles sit in salt brine for about three weeks and turn sour on their own. Fresh-pack pickles are brined for a few hours and then covered with vinegar.
  • Salt-packed or brined capers. Salt-cured capers are tender and taste meaty, and they need several rinses before use. Capers brined in salt and vinegar stay firm, with a grassy, floral taste.
  • Acid behind the oil. Vegetables are low in acid, so a jar sold at room temperature must reach pH 4.6 or below through added acid or fermentation, or else be pressure-processed like canned beans. On that scale, lower numbers mean more acid.

About Pickled / Brined / Oil Soaked Goods

Pickled, brined, oil-soaked goods are vegetables, fruit and buds preserved by sourness, salt or heat once sealed in a jar, rather than by cold. In a fermented pickle, salt draws water out and lactic acid bacteria sour the brine, while quick pickles borrow their acid from vinegar.

Basque Ibarra peppers carry the regional Eusko Label quality mark: slender and yellow green, 5 to 12 centimeters long, packed in wine vinegar.

Capers are the unopened flower buds of Capparis spinosa, picked by hand and cured before they are eaten. Cucumbers, artichokes and peppers are among the low-acid vegetables that US rules treat as acidified foods once acid is added, and such foods may be sold as pickles.

At a glance

Main types
Fermented pickles, vinegar pickles, capers, oil-packed vegetables
Unopened
12 to 18 months for pickles
Once opened
Refrigerate under brine; USDA gives 5 to 7 days

Pickled / Brined / Oil Soaked Goods questions

Is it safe to store vegetables or garlic in oil at home?

Not at room temperature. Oil shuts out air, and low-acid garlic, herbs and vegetables can then let botulism bacteria grow and form toxin. Homemade oils with untreated garlic or herbs must be refrigerated and used within four days. Only ingredients first acidified to a pH of 4.2 or lower can be kept in oil on the shelf.

What makes a piquillo pepper from Lodosa special?

Piquillo from Lodosa holds a protected designation of origin, so only peppers picked by hand from September to December along the Ebro around Lodosa, in Navarre, can use the name. The small triangular peppers, whose name means little beak, are roasted over embers or open flame, then peeled and seeded by hand without water, which would rinse away flavor. They end up sweet, slightly piquant and smoky.

How long do pickles keep after the jar is opened?

Refrigerate the jar once it is open. USDA's guidance for opened high-acid canned foods, pickles included, is five to seven days. Keep them under their brine and lift them out with a clean fork. Sealed commercial pickles count as a high-acid canned food, good for 12 to 18 months unopened.

Sources: National Center for Home Food Preservation; US Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR 114; University of Georgia Extension.

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