Generally speaking, pickles and chutneys are the most straightforward of preserves to make. Unlike jellies and jams, they don’t require setting. Before cooking, vegetables should be soaked in brine for a day or so. The salt draws out the moisture from the vegetables, making them more receptive to vinegar and preventing vegetable juices from diluting the preserving vinegar. You should try to use pure or ‘Kosher’ salt, because ordinary iodised salt will taint the pickle with the flavour of iodine. And other additives found in table salt will make the pickle cloudy. Please note that there are two distinct types of brine. The first is called ‘dry brine’ which is where the salt is simply sprinkled over the vegetables. The second type is, predictably, called ‘wet brine’, where the salt is dissolved in water before immersing the vegetables. When cooking, you should try not to overcook, because this will cause chutneys, in particular, to become dry and attract mould when stored.
It’s a good idea to use the best vinegar you can afford. Using cheap ingredients in general is false economy, particularly when it comes to vinegar. Depending on how much pickling or chutney making you intend to do, it might be wise to buy ingredients in bulk wherever possible.
You should endeavour to buy decent, ripe vegetables, whilst taking care to ensure that they are not over-ripe. This will make for a crisper end product. Over-ripe vegetables will become soft and mushy with cooking, but should not be thrown away, because they can still be used to make a softer and sweeter chutney which has a flavour which goes well with ham, chicken and other cold meats.
Pickles and chutneys keep very well, and certainly better than other kinds of preserve. Try to resist the temptation to eat them too soon, and it is best to wait at least 4-6 weeks before taking them out of the refrigerator or larder to open and eat. Of course waiting for 6-12 months will improve the flavour immensely.
The best way to store chutneys and pickles is in screw-top or mason jars. The lid should be screwed down over a layer of greaseproof paper, especially if the lid is made of metal.
If you want to flavour the pickle or chutney with spices, It is best to put them in a cotton muslin bag and suspend it in the vinegar. When adding the vinegar to the vegetables, strain it through cotton muslin to remove any particles.
