Have you checked out all the recipes at NCHFP? That is always the best source, that or the Ball Books or The Joy of Pickling.

As a general rule pickling recipes are fairly flexible in the ingredients you can add but it depends on the amount of vinegar used. For example, most B&B pickle recipes call for straight vinegar undiluted by water. So yes you can add garlic if you wish - within reason. Most recipes call for 3-4 cloves diced.

If working with a pickle recipe that diluted the vinegar with water (1:1 is lowest approved) then you have to stick with the ingredients called for and no additions. But you don't have that problems with straight vinegar recipes.

As for adding the pepper - same general rule applies. However dried hot pepper flakes is always recommended over fresh peppers. Dried additives are always safer to add to a recipe than are fresh ingredients as dried don't alter the pH or density.

There are some limits on fridge storage of brines as molds and fungus can develop over time. So be sure you reheat the brine to boiling each time you make a fresh batch and don't plan to store it for more than a couple of weeks.

To avoid wasting the brine simply cut the recipe for it in half or quarters when making it. There is no need to make a full batch of brine for only a couple of half pints or pints of pickles.

OK?

Dave

Thank you Dave - that helps a lot!

My last batch of B&B I used lots of garlic and slices of jalapeno peppers. The peppers are very much like the cucumbers, so as long as the total amount of vegetables is the same volume/weight as called for, particularly with the vinegar and sugar in B&B pickles, you'll be okay. The truth is that just about anything you grow in your garden can be pickled, so ultimately you have a pile of vegetables (by weight or volume - weight beter) and the requisite amount of vinegar, salt, sugar, spices, etc. to make it work. For most pickles, you are not counting on the vegetables to add to the acidity necessary for proper preserving. I think the only thing I would worry about is if something were too thick and the acid or sugar would not get to the center adequately.

For most pickles, you are not counting on the vegetables to add to the acidity necessary for proper preserving.

For clarification, the vegetables can affect the pH, the acidity. They are all low-acid vegetables and all the water in the vegetables, especially cucumbers, leaches out over time and dilutes the vinegar so the pH rises during shelf storage.

That is why when using an untested recipes that call for diluting the vinegar to begin with it is recommended that the brine be at least 50% vinegar (5%) and no more than 50% water. Unfortunately there are many unsafe recipes floating around out there that call for very low levels of vinegar - some dilute the vinegar by as much as 70% - so some care is required when evaluating recipes and instructions.

But if you stick with straight vinegar recipes then yes, you can pickle almost anything.

Dave