Can You Pickle With Apple Cider Vinegar?

At CoralTree Organics, we often get asked whether you can pickle with apple cider vinegar. And, the answer is a resounding ‘Yes’! According to nutritionist Lena Fischer, who wrote an article for HealthPost on how to pickle vegetables quickly and easily, apple cider vinegar is a great choice when used with vegetables such as cucumbers and carrots. 

ACV adds some additional flavour with just a hint of sweetness that goes so well with a variety of different vegetables that you might want to pickle. This even includes pickled onions and watermelon which already have some sweetness of their own.

You’ll also find that apple cider vinegar is a little less sharp in taste when compared to white vinegar, so the end result is softer on the palate. This means that you can enjoy your pickles without that initial sour pucker as you first bite into one. Although the apple cider vinegar will add a little colour to your pickles, it does provide a much more mellow flavour.

Plus, you’ll get all the additional benefits of apple cider vinegar when you use it in your homemade pickle recipes.

Benefits Of Apple Cider Vinegar When Pickling

According to nutrition scientist, Hui Chia, who writes for Dillicious, apple cider vinegar is ideal to use for pickling because its natural sweetness means that you don’t have to add any sugar if you don’t want to. Of course, if you’ve been using apple cider vinegar in the kitchen for a while, you’ll know that it contains high levels of polyphenols, antioxidants and flavonoids. These are great for reducing nasty fats in your bloodstream.

According to Hui Chia, apple cider vinegar can also help to lower blood glucose levels, so you can munch on those homemade pickles as much as you want without worrying about them affecting your blood sugar levels. In fact, those of you who like the benefits of having a couple of teaspoons of pickle juice every day will enjoy using the ACV pickle juice even more thanks to its slightly milder taste

“Once you’ve finished the pickles, don’t pour the brine down the drain”, says Hui Chia. Instead, use it as salad dressing, add it to other recipes or simply drink it straight from the jar.

How Do You Use Apple Cider Vinegar For Pickling?

Essentially, you can just substitute normal white vinegar with the apple cider vinegar in your favourite recipe. We’ve found a very simple recipe on the Food In A Minute website from Watties.

All you need for around 2 cups of pickling juice, is 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1 cup of water, 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of pickling spice and ¼ of sugar (if you want to use it).

Then it’s simply a case of putting all the ingredients in a saucepan and stirring over medium heat until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil and then take it off the heat and allow to cool. 

You can use this basic recipe for pickling all types of different vegetables such as beetroot, broccoli, zucchini, sliced onions, cucumbers, carrots and even radishes. All it takes is a little of your imagination and some experimenting to see whether you and your family like the end result.

Another simple recipe we’ve found uses similar ingredients but you just put the vegetables in the sterilised jar and then add the brine ingredients without boiling them first. Instead, you use hot water and then just shake the jar gently to help dissolve the salt and sugar. This is a very simple way to make pickled cucumbers very quickly and will store in the fridge for about 2 weeks.

You can also add sprigs of dill to the jars or use dill seeds instead. Adding garlic to your pickles is another common method used by many but make sure that you don’t add more than the quantity recommended in the recipe. Remember that garlic is low in acid, so it should be used sparingly when making pickles.

Does Apple Cider Vinegar Preserve Vegetables?

Apple cider vinegar is just like white vinegar when it comes to preserving vegetables. It might surprise you to learn that ACV has been used for thousands of years as a preservative.

According to an article on the Healthline website, as the vegetables are completely submerged in the apple cider vinegar brine, the acidity works to deactivate any enzymes in the food and this kills any bacteria that would otherwise make the vegetables spoil.

The only thing you have to ensure that the apple cider vinegar you use is of the highest quality and contains at least 5% acidity. 

What Happens If You Put Too Much Vinegar In Pickles?

As a general rule, you should stick to a tried and true recipe when making the apple cider vinegar brine for pickling your vegetables. If the pickling solution is too strong or you’ve used too much ACV, your vegetables will shrivel. 

If you’ve accidentally added too much apple cider vinegar to your brine, you can balance the acidity by adding one or two pinches of sugar, depending on whether you’ve used one or two cups of ACV. If you do this before submerging the vegetables in the brine, they should be fine.

Can You Use Apple Cider Vinegar For Canning?

It’s perfectly acceptable to use apple cider vinegar for canning. The only difference that you’ll notice is that the taste of the canned goods will be a little more mellow and the colour will be a little darker. 

Just use your favourite canning recipe that calls for white vinegar and substitute this with apple cider vinegar in the same quantities. You’ll even find that there are many recipes that call for apple cider vinegar rather than just white vinegar. Or, they may even give you a choice between the two.

Either way, using apple cider vinegar for making pickles or for canning is great and will take your taste buds to a whole new level. And, it’s good for your gut health as well.