General Purpose Acetic Pickle Brine

No showboating here, this is just a basic brine for doing cold or hot pickling. I always like to make sure the water component is pretty hot to begin with, which allows you to whisk in the sugar and salt for an aqueous solution. If you do it cold, then there is a potential that the salt and sugar will not absorb and simply fall to the bottom of the jar.

Now, of course, the sky is the limit on what flavors you can add to this, from fresh dill to hot peppers, your call. Feel free to use your homemade vinegar for a “live” product, or you are shooting for maximum shelf life, you can pasteurize the whole brine and stop activity. If you use pineapple vinegar, though, keep in mind that it is a double dose of tartness and adjust the quantity a little down to avoid it being to crazy tart. I used to work at a restaurant where we just kept a bucket of cold brine, and as we got onion, carrot, and celery scraps, we’d just throw them in there with some extra jalapenos and garlic cloves. Within a week or so, we had a super respectable amount of Escabeche for our staff “Nacho Night!”

Ingredients:

Water---------1 Cup

Vinegar------1 1/3 Cup

Salt-----------2 Tbl

Sugar---------1/3 Cup

Preparation:

1. In a small sauce pot, heat water to a boil. Once boiling turn off heat.

2. Wisk salt and sugar into water, then add vinegar.

3. Combine with vinegar and mix well.

4. Allow to cool if using for a cold brine, or heat entire brine up for use as a hot brine.