Read any food trend prediction article and chances are you will see pickled foods, along with sour and briny flavors, listed as popular for 2025.
Many cottage food products can meet customer desires for pickled or sour-tasting foods, including:
- Pickled vegetables and fruit.
- Fermented foods, like kimchi.
- Drinking vinegars.
Pickled, fermented, and acidified cottage food products must have a final equilibrium pH of 4.60 or less for food safety. The acidity of these foods minimizes the risk of Clostridium botulinum spores from germinating into vegetative cells and producing the toxin that causes botulism, along with preventing the growth of other foodborne illness-causing bacteria.
There is even an opportunity for the bakers to use pickle flavors — search for pickle cake or cookie recipes for inspiration. Remember to test the water activity of your final product to verify it is 0.85 or less.
Safely pickling produce
When preparing to pickle and home-can produce, it is important to use research-based recipes and procedures. Use these tips in your cottage foods business to make safe pickled products.
Recipe ingredients
A pickling recipe will include:
- Produce. Many vegetables and fruits can safely be pickled and home-canned. Select produce that is fresh, and free of any damage such as cracks, holes or severe bruising, or disease, as these can be entry points for bacteria.
- Acidifying component. Distilled white or cider vinegars, with 5 percent acidity (acetic acid) are most commonly used and recommended for pickling. Lemon juice might be used in pickled fruit or chutney recipes.
- Water. Soft water is best compared to hard water, as hard water contains minerals that may cause cloudiness and impact the texture of the final product. If you have hard water, boil it for 15 minutes and let it stand for 24 hours. Minerals or sediment will fall to the bottom of the pot during that time. Ladle out the water needed for the recipe. Alternatively, you can use distilled water.
- Salt. Use a canning or pickling salt as these do not contain other minerals or anticaking agents that can make the brine cloudy. Salt helps to move the acidifying component from the pickling liquid (brine) into the produce. This lowers the pH of the food.
Additional ingredients might include sugar, spices or herbs. Some recipes may call for a firming agent, such as pickling lime, alum, calcium chloride or grape leaves. Adding a firming agent is unnecessary if the produce used is in season, and a correct ratio of acid to water is used.
Canning
When canning and processing your pickled products, pay close attention to these recipe details:
- Cut-size of the produce. If the pieces of food are too large, they may not be properly acidified.
- Pack style. Many pickling recipes will use the hot pack style as the heat speeds up the acidification process. The raw pack style is best used for produce that will lose color or shape, such as green beans or hot peppers.
- Headspace. Depending on the food, a headspace of o1/2 or 1 inch, is required to provide room for the pickling liquid (brine) to boil and a vacuum seal to be formed.
- Processing time based on your elevation and jar size. The thermal heat treatment is essential to inactivate any bacteria present and make the food shelf stable.
Use a boiling water bath canner or an atmospheric steam canner to process your pickled foods. For an in-depth review of pickling produce, watch the webinar from the 2024 Food Safety Foundations series.
Test the pH of your cottage foods
It is a best practice to test the pH of your pickled, fermented, and acidified cottage food products. You can test your products at home by using a pH meter. Follow these recommendations for selecting and using a pH meter to test your cottage foods.
Have a question you want answered?
Email your questions to the food safety team at [email protected]. It may be featured in this newsletter to benefit all Minnesota cottage foods producers.