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Last Updated on July 16, 2021 by cmoarz
So, how long after canning pickles can you eat them?
So you’ve just got finished making some nice, juicy pickles and you’re already drooling over the idea of cracking them open and taking a nice crispy bite. Well, unfortunately it’s just going to taste like a cucumber floating around in pickle juice!
A fermented pickle needs to ferment for at least 6 weeks before it’s ready to consume. After that they will continue to ferment further inside the canning jars. That’s when the cucumber starts to actually taste like a pickle. It also gives enough time for all the other ingredients to get to know each other, Such as hot peppers.
Some people ferment their pickles inside a jar the whole time, And some prefer to ferment them in a fermentation stone/pot. If you’ve fermented them in the pot for 6 weeks and just canned them, Go wild they can be eaten at any time.
Pickles are a lot like wine or other fermented dishes. The longer they sit in the brine the better they get. So you shouldn’t try rushing your pickles too much, They need time to please you.
How can I speed up my pickling process for next time?
If you are just looking for a quick pickle method, there are tons of recipes online. A quick pickling method usually involves soaking your vegetables directly in jars of Vinegar and salt and some other ingredients without additional water.
These types of pickles will give you instant results within the day, however, they are not true pickles in the sense that they have fermented for long periods of time.
Because of that, these usually store in a fridge for about 2 months before they need to be tossed.
They also will not receive the deep and glorious flavors fermenting pickles will give you. If you wanted them to be spicy, they likely wouldn’t pick that much of it up in a short period of time.
It really does pay to be patient when it comes to pickles. Instead of asking “how long after canning pickles can you eat them” you should be asking yourself why you didn’t make even more, because these are going to be fantastic.
So there are different types of pickling?
Yup, Just like most things in life, there is more than 1 way to do something. Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses and appropriate times to be used.
Here is a list of the most common pickling methods:
- Fermented pickles – 6 weeks
- Fridge pickles – 1-5 days
- Fresh packed pickles – 5 weeks