The Joy of Pickling: 300 Flavor-Packed Recipes for All Kinds of Produce from Garden or Market

by Linda Ziedrich

Whether you're making a pint of sauerkraut or a peck of pickled peppers, the Joy of Pickling provides all the tools for pickling success!

Putting up pickles is a time-honored technique for stretching the harvest and getting the most out of fresh produce. But pickling isn't just about preserving - it's a way of creating mouthwatering condiments and side dishes that add interest and variety to the table. Making these salty, sour, sweet, and tangy tidbits isn't hard - as long as you have this comprehensive volume to guide you. This new edition includes 50 new recipes, techniques for preventing yeast and mold growths on fermented pickles, as well as information on the science of pickling.

Among the tempting treats you'll find inside: Lower East Side Full-Sour Dills, Cabbage and Radish Kimchi, Pickled Whole Watermelons, Quick Pickled Baby Corn, Cranberry Ketchup, Pickled Whole Cabbages, and much, much more.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Reference, Food Preservation, Preservation

480 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1998

About the author

As a long-time editor of nonfiction books--mostly cookbooks--I gradually came to devote more and more of my time to writing. My books have developed from my interests in food from garden to table, in culinary and horticultural history, and in the cuisines of the world. I’ve trained as a Master Gardener, I am an active Master Food Preserver, I am a co-founder of the Santiam Food Alliance, and I am vice-president of the Lebanon Museum Foundation. I write about my gardening and cooking adventures at agardenerstable.com.

Reviews

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally changed my address after over a year of living in a new county and promptly sprinted to the library so I could get a library card. Classic August, rural MN mode... there was a jams, jellies, pickling display. So I grabbed this book and fell in love. I want this on my shelf for every summer to come!

[Ian Chadwick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightful romp through making pickles and preserves, with emphasis on fermented foods. Lots of explanation and discussion about techniques, food history, and ingredients.
Would be much improved (and a higher rating) if the recipes were not presented entirely in antiquated imperial measurements (mostly in volume, like cups and tablespoons, not weight). Perhaps it doesn’t matter as much with pickles, but I much prefer measurements in metric weight or volume for liquids. They are far more precise. Imperial is inexact and feels quaint in the way reading Chaucer in Middle English feels.
I appreciate that her audience is probably Americans still using imperial, but for the rest of the world, we’ve moved on to metric. Please update the recipes so we can feel included and it will get a better rating.

[Lauren Tennet · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many techniques and great guidance for building up a pickling practice. I just finished trying out the sweet pickled pears recipe with some tiny, firm, faintly blushed pears from the winter market this weekend. I snuck an unfinished pear from the brine, and my-oh-my, I can’t wait to smang these with some creme fraiche!! I’ll definitely be buying a copy of this book for the home library. Gets me excited for summer market season!

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very complete book on pickling, with interesting sides and histories on many recipes.

[Heydi Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I want to make every recipe in this book! How many books can you say that about?

[Boxofdelights · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that every person who makes pickles, or wants to make pickles, should have. Mine is tattered from use, notated with years and batch notes and well loved.

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A necessary reference for any home canner.

[Kitten Kisser · Rating 5 out of 5]

We already have the Joy of Jams, Jellies, and other Sweet Preserves & absolutely love it! So when I saw that the same author had a book on pickling, I couldn't resist!
I am not disappointed! This book meets the high expectations I had of it due to my delight with the book mentioned.
If you can think of it, she has a pickling recipe for it! She also goes into fermentation & that is something we are always trying & interested in. As usual the beginning of the book provides the reader with essential information that you should of course read before following any recipes.
To give you an idea of some of the recipes offered there are: Robert's Tea Pickles, an assortment of Dill pickles, pickled apples, turnips, radish, mushrooms, onions, tomatillos, tomatoes, artichokes, grapes, peppers, mangos, pickles in rice-bran mash, ginger gherkins, quince, pears, baby corn, carrots, onion rings, and more. Plus freezer pickles, chutneys, salsas, meat, fish, and eggs!!! This only names a few...yes a few! I told you, if you can name it, I think it's in here! There are enough recipes to keep me pickling our farm fresh crops & eggs as well our local farmers market delights for years as well as giving me ideas for new things to plant come Spring! YUM!
Bottom line, if you love pickling or know someone who does it will make a valuable addition to your library or a much appreciated gift! Highly recommend!

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are at all interested in preserving food by pickling it, I think this may be the book for you. Featuring about as many recipes for pickling a cucumber as you could possible want, this book includes recipes for fruits and other vegetables as well. From tomatoes, beans, pumpkins and squash to blueberries, plums, watermelons and even walnuts! There's recipes for all sorts of sauerkraut and relishes and chutneys too. And if you've ever had the desire to pickle pigs feet (no thanks!) hey, this book can give you the directions for that, too.

There's recipes for fermented pickles, fresh pickles, freezer pickles and quick pickles. No matter what your comfort level with food preservation is, you'll find a recipes that will work for you in this book.

The only reason I had to give this book 4 stars rather than 5 is the lack of pictures. It would be nice to have a visual of how the pickles turn out, and many of the recipes sound as if they'd produce a beautiful product.

I love this book and the inspiration it's given me. I cannot wait to spend my weekends trying out new and exciting pickles!

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

To Pickle or Not to Pickle? That is the question that has been haunting novice and intermediate cooks like myself for a long time. Word like Botulism and E-Coli have scared us into believing that if it is not commercially pickled we are risking our health. We are scared off by material from the USDA that gives us such exacting detail about minute things that we feel as if we need a science degree to do something, that everyone has been doing for longer then time itself, or so it appears. This book takes all the mystery away and has some of the best recipes I have seen for pickling. The way the author describes the process makes things so much easier to understand and to do. Don't get me wrong; she does cover the risks but then interjects her own experiences as to the steps she takes.

[DumDum · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I'm not too busy pickling my liver I love to put-up pickles (mostly during the Summer). This is the best pickling book I've found! My favorites are her pickled beets (which I add Walla Walla sweets to), bread and butter pickles, of course dill pickles and the pickled turnips (mostly because they're a beautiful pink color). I never seem to have enough time to pickle anything else bust most of her recipes sound delicious and often very intriguing.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pickling things sounds difficult and complicated and like you need to buy a whole bunch of accessories, none of which appeals to me. Plus, if you do it wrong, you can get botulism. Yummy. I think I'll just eat what I grow from the garden while it's fresh for the present, and worry about learning to pickle and can when I feel like I can take on a complicated, expensive, and potentially deadly hobby.

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh! I got this book from the library on a recommendation from a blog I read, and WOW!, this is one I just might have to purchase for myself.

Great recipes for pickling almost anything! Many more things than cucumbers, for sure. I am particularly interested in the kimchi and kimuchi recipes. How inspiring!

I highly recommend that you check out this book and begin having fun in the kitchen preparing all sorts of yummy food options.

[Binet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I carried this book around like a baby for the first few days I had it; it's a very entertaining and interesting cookbook. The instructions are very clear, and more detailed than anything I've found online. Her brine bag method is easy and prevents mold. If the kraut recipes are indicative of the tastiness of the rest, I'm going to pickle everything in site! I've been viciously attacking my first batch of kimchi-kraut- delicious!

[Greta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who knew there were so many pickle recipes in the world? From traditional dill pickles to pickled salmon and kimchi - and just about everything in between - if you like things salty and sour (or sweet and sour), you'll find it here! While many of the recipes weren't to my taste (I just don't see myself snacking on limed cantaloupe pickles or pickled turnips anytime soon), the variety is mind-boggling as are the techniques, ranging from fresh to freezer to fermentation.

[Geordon VanTassle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very large selection of pickle varieties, and better yet, most of them are small batches!

Some of the pickles in the book are ready in as little as a few hours ("Quick pickles") and some take several weeks to get to be ready to eat. I'm new into the home preserving game, so this book is a God-send. The directions are simple, the ingredients are readily available, and it sounds like most of the results will be something that my family will devour.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the detail in this book including descriptions of the different methods of pickling and the troubleshooting tips. The number of recipes overwhelmed me some and made it hard to know where to start. I think a "top 10" recipes or a list of good recipes for beginners to start with would have helped me.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is THE resource book for all your pickling needs (should you have pickling needs) especially if you want to learn how to make proper fermented pickles, which is not information you can get easily anywhere else.

[Artmajorese · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very interesting book for people interested in non-canning sorts of pickles. If I found a copy at a used book sale I would buy it, but a lot of the recipes just don't fit with my current pickle-making groove.

[Lynn Szwalkiewicz]

Very informative book. I was able to quickly learn what I needed to know and get a batch of lactofermented pickles done. I even waited the two weeks and taste tested them before coming back with my review :)

[Mathew Carruthers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the theory, history, and technique sections, skimmed the recipes. Still too early in the season to really use the information contained in this very helpful tome, so I may revisit it in a few months. This is definitely a book I'd like to have in my cookbook and how-to collection.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this up on the last run to the library and it is a wonderful book! Very detailed and contains lots of hints, tricks, and advice. I'm going to look to add it to my collection and begin to pickle to my heart's content. The only thing is that I wish it had photos.

[Sara W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very helpful and informative. Pickling is one of the most important method to preserved foods. But this book made it more special. This book is good for the health. I loved this book and highly recommended to everyone.

[Dal Watt]

i really enjoyed the book as i do a lot of small canning and pickling as its just for myself , but wondered if you had a preference as to which sauerkraut you liked the best. Thank you as i am by my self to try all it would take years . Thank you for your thoughts. Dal

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to pickle anything and everything, this book is a must.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential reference.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best books about pickles I have seen. The author's explanations and descriptions are fantastic and extremely helpful.

[Charles Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life-changing

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

what an exhaustive collection of recipes. an added bonus: the recipes she provides here are for small batches of pickles--you don't have to can 40 jars worth.
a fantastic guide.