Pickling is so hot it's cool.

Once a necessity to feed a family through the winter, pickling -- using vinegar or lemon juice to "cook" or preserve food and inhibit bacterial growth -- has become a nostalgic hobby for people who see it as a reminder of simpler times and an outlet for culinary creativity. Even chefs have embraced pickling to add pungent flavors to their trademark dishes.

"People are literally begging for a good homemade pickle, a bread and butter pickle, a sweet pickle, a sour pickle. And you can't have enough dill pickles," says Lillie Crowley who oversees fair canning competitions.

"It's such a wonderful memory and recollection, it's almost so emotional with some people," says Crowley, who taught her 14 children the basics of canning. "They remember how good they were (back in the homemade days) and the people who made them."

Once thought to be a skill only grandmothers, aunts and neighbor women could master, pickling is becoming a hobby for men, too. Many men have treasured childhood memories of home-canned foods, she says, and when they win ribbons for their efforts, they're thrilled. Crowley is herself a blue-ribbon winner who began competing at the fair during the 1950s.

When pickles fail to pass muster with the judges, Crowley checks the cook's chemistry. Did they use 9 percent vinegar? Did they use canning salt? (Ingredients are important. Ordinary cooking vinegar is only about 5 percent acidity, and table salt contains additives that will cloud pickling solutions and distort flavors.) Finally, she tells them that competition is stiff these days, just keep after it.

Nearly 28 million people in the United States pickle each year, according to a survey conducted by Alltrista Consumer Products Co., the marketer of Ball and Kerr home canning jars.

Everyone, it seems, is trying to make a better pickle, and newer recipes and quicker "counter-top" preparation methods take much of the fear out of the experience, Crowley said.

At the fair, she demonstrates an easy recipe, ready to eat in 24 hours and good for about a week in the refrigerator. (The same recipe can be used with a water-bath process, commonly known as "canning," to preserve food for longer-term pantry storage and to kill the bacterium known as Clostridium botulinum, which can cause a potentially fatal form of food poisoning called botulism.)

Quicker pickles

Chef Stephen Pyles understands the need for a quicker pickle. His Star Canyon restaurant prepares at least 12 varieties of pickled vegetables weekly for its relish trays, sandwiches and dishes. In "The New Texas Cuisine" (Doubleday, $35), his rendition of pickled onions is meant to be served the day it is made.

"Today, we wouldn't pickle or preserve something because we need to keep it for six months," Pyles says. "Our pickles are gone in three days. They're never even in a jar or a can."

Just as food preparation changes over time, so has the art of pickling.

"What I'm seeing is, in Mexican cooking, there's something called 'escabeche,' and that is nothing but pickling," says Pyles, who is writing a Southwestern vegetarian cookbook that includes a chapter on pickling.

"So with the advent of Nuevo Latino and all things Hispanic coming into our culture by way of South America and the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, we're starting to see things like dried chilies in 'escabeche,' which are just pickled dried chilies, jicama, radishes. Those kinds of pickles are becoming more prevalent."

Chef Frank Stitt pickles vegetables a few times a week but also will throw a "pickling party" to capture and preserve summer vegetables to serve at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Stitt grew up in the farming town of Cullman, Ala., where his grandmother and mother had cellars for storing pickled peaches and beets. He has incorporated pickled vegetables, especially okra, into his repertoire of down-home Southern ingredients cooked in the French Provencal style.

Restaurants also are taking a lead in the Italian tradition of packing pickled vegetables in colorful arrangements, such as layers of mushrooms, pearl onions and artichokes, he says.

"Some are trying to can their own tomatoes at the height of their season to use later," Stitt says. "I think that's a trend that better restaurants and chefs are doing because it just makes sense in using seasonal ingredients."

Whether he's wielding a 4-inch paring knife on cucumbers or a 10-inch chef's knife on Vidalia onions, Stitt always places the results in old-fashioned ceramic bowls, a nod to the French way of being "more sympathetic, kinder, more gentle when you macerate," he says.

No fear pickling

An important part of pickling -- especially heat-processing -- is understanding how to prevent bacteria from growing in various foods.

No single heat-processing method ensures safety for all types of foods, says Dr. Judy Harrison of the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Foods can be broken into two groups, acidic foods and low-acid foods. Acidic foods -- such as most fruits and pickled vegetables -- can be processed in a water-bath canner. Low-acid foods -- such as vegetables, meats, seafood and dairy products -- must be processed in a pressure-cooking canner to be considered safe.

No matter what the experts recommend, some people will insist on canning green beans in a water bath the way grandmother did, says Harrison, who is also an assistant professor of foods and nutrition.

"We just know now that it's not a safe way to do it," she says, adding that home cooks need to be especially careful when making homemade salsa, which includes low-acid ingredients that need a boost from lemon juice and heat processing.

Aside from concerns about preventing food poisoning, there is plenty of room for experimentation and creativity in pickling. Because the tradition has been used in many cultures -- notably Mexico, Europe and the Middle East -- it can be incorporated into nearly any cuisine.

"It's one of the great misconceptions that it's difficult or that the technique is out of reach," Stitt says. "Pickling is just a wonderful tradition that I think is important we maintain."

What to avoid

Momma may have made pickles with one of these methods, but the "Ball Blue Book Guide to Home Canning, Freezing & Dehydration" (Alltrista Corp., 1995) urges you not to when heat-processing foods for storage.

* Open kettle: Neither safe nor recommended for preservation. In this method, food is cooked in an open pan and then placed in jars. Lids are put on with the hope the right seal will occur during cooling. But packed food may not reach the temperature needed to kill bacteria, and as it spoils, gases in the jar may force the lid to release.

* Steam: Not steam-pressure canning, but the practice of using a covered, shallow pan and rack to circulate steam around the filled jars. This steam isn't pressured and doesn't maintain a steady flow of even temperature.

* Oven: As temperature fluctuates when the door is opened, jars may break. The temperature inside the jars is not hot enough to kill bacteria.

* Microwave oven: Seemingly identical jars placed in a microwave oven do not reach the same internal temperature. Safe processing times have not been developed, and good heat penetration may not be reached.

* Dishwasher: Unsafe. There is no way to control the temperature or processing time.

* Aspirin: Don't use it as a substitute for processing. While it contains a weak germicidal agent that acts as a preservative, it isn't adequate for preventing spoilage.

Success secrets

* State fair blue-ribbon winners say high-quality, 9 percent vinegar is a secret of their success; other winners say 5 percent is fine. The problem is finding 9 percent vinegar. Chef Pyles likes white-wine and champagne vinegars, which come in 7 percent and 6 percent strengths.

* Buy a good book, the experts say.

* The "Ball Blue Book Guide to Home Canning, Freezing & Dehydration" has instructions, recipes and a problem-solving section. For a copy, send $4.95 and $1 for shipping/handling to Alltrista Corp., P.O. Box 2005, Muncie, Ind. 47307-0005. To order by phone, call 800-240-3340 between 8: 30 a.m. and 4: 30 p.m. weekdays.

* Oded Schwartz's "Preserving" (DK Publishing, $29.95) has eye-popping photography and several quick-method recipes to spark your interest. To order, call toll-free 888-342-5357.

* Use the right salt. You need to use canning salt or pickling salt, not table salt, which contains anti-caking ingredients and can make your pickles cloudy. Iodized salt can also turn pickles dark.

* Choose produce at its peak -- within six to 12 hours after #F harvest -- and process it as soon as possible. The longer cucumbers sit, the more water they lose, resulting in the condition known as "hollow cucumbers" after pickling. For best results, grow your produce and take it from the vine to the kitchen. Or buy from a farmers' market early in the day.

* Keep packed jars out of the light, which causes deterioration. You can store them in the box they came in.

* For more guidance, contact the County Extension Service in your area.

* Check out the National Food Safety Database with home-canning information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Extension Service at the Web site www.foodsafety.org. For trouble-shooting, try www.home-canning.com/solution.html.

Safe canning, step by step

* Assemble all equipment and utensils. Everything should be clean and in good condition. Do not use brass or copper utensils when canning.

* Read entire recipe and allow enough time to complete one batch from start to finish.

* Examine jars for nicks or cracks, lids for scratches or defects. Check screw bands for proper fit. For best results, start with new canning jars. Wash jars and lids in hot, soapy water; rinse. Place jars and lids in a saucepan filled with water; bring to simmer. Remove from heat; allow jars and lids to remain in hot water until needed. (Never place hot preserves in room-temperature jars.) Do not boil lids. Dry bands; set aside. (Jars and lids can be cleaned in the dishwasher and left in the heat until ready to use. Heating them in the oven at 210 degrees is not recommended.) Some people do choose to reuse jars, but you should never reuse the lids and bands.

* Choose top-quality produce at its peak; wash thoroughly. The wax on some store-bought produce prevents the brine from reaching the center.

* Follow the recipe. Working with one jar at a time -- not assembly-line style -- pack pickles tightly into hot jars and completely cover with hot pickling liquid. Leave recommended head space.

* Remove air bubbles by sliding nonmetallic spatula or wooden skewer down sides of jar. Food must be covered by pickling solution. Wipe rim and threads of jars with clean, damp cloth. Adjust two-piece caps. Tighten screw band until resistance is met.

* Place each jar on an elevated rack over canner containing simmering water. When rack is filled, lower into canner and add boiling water to cover two-piece caps by 1 to 2 inches. (Jar should not sit directly on bottom of canner.) Cover canner, bring to boil. Adjust heat to hold water at steady boil.

* Start counting processing time when water reaches a rolling boil, unless otherwise noted in the recipe.

* Check up. If water should boil away and the two-piece caps become exposed, add more boiling water to cover two-piece caps by 1 to 2 inches.

* When processing time is complete (according to recipe), remove jars. Stand jars upright on a towel (not uncovered counter top) out of drafts. Allow 1 to 2 inches of space between jars for air circulation.

* After 12 to 24 hours, test vacuum seals by pressing center of lid to see if it's concave. Remove screw bands. Try to lift the lid with your fingertips. If center does not flex up and down and you cannot lift lid off, lid has a good vacuum seal. If lid did not seal within 24 hours, product must be reprocessed or stored in the refrigerator and used within a few days.

To reprocess, remove lid; check sealing surface of jar for cracks. Replace jar if necessary. Reheat product (if hot pack is required). Pack food into clean, hot jars. Place new, heated lid on jar and adjust band. Reprocess using recipe's recommended canning method (boiling water process or steam-pressure process) and processing time. Allow to cool 12 to 24 hours. Retest seal.

* Wash outside of jar and lid surface, label and date. Store sealed jars in cool, dry, dark place.

-- Source: "Ball Blue Book Guide to Home Canning, Freezing & Dehydration"

State Fair Favorite Dill Pickles

Makes 1 quart

enough cucumbers to fill a quart jar (about 5 to 7, depending on size), washed

1 clean quart jar, warmed

1/2 cup (9 percent) vinegar (see note)

1 or 2 cloves garlic

A few dill leaves or flower heads, or a scant teaspoon dill seed (if you don't like dill, use pickling spice)

1 teaspoon crab boil (optional, for spicier pickles; can also be substituted for dill)

1 tablespoon canning, pickling salt

1 teaspoon sugar

jalapeno or cayenne pepper, according to taste (optional)

a few cups of boiling water

If you're using large cucumbers, cut into spears or sticks. Pack the cucumbers in warm jar. Add vinegar and remaining ingredients except boiling water. Finish filling jar with boiling water, leaving about 1/2 inch of head space. Remove air bubbles.

If you are going to store the jar in the refrigerator, seal and allow to cool before refrigerating.

If you are going to store the jar on shelf, process in a water bath for about 15 minutes. (See "Safe canning" above.)

To tell when pickles are done processing, use tongs to pull jar out of the water and check the color. When the pickles have lost their green, natural color and are the color of green olives, they're ready.

Remove jar from water and place on a towel over a counter top. When preparing more than 1 jar, allow space between jars so air can circulate. Do not cover with a cloth. When lids are cool to touch, check seals.

If improperly sealed, store pickles in refrigerator and eat as soon as possible. If seals are fine, allow jars to cool 24 hours before storing in a cool, dark place.

Note: This recipe also works for carrot sticks, green beans or a medley of vegetables. Red and green bell peppers look wonderful on a relish tray at Christmastime. If you can't find a 9 percent vinegar, you may substitute a lower percentage, such as 6 or 7.

Sweet and Sour Poblano Peaches

Makes 1 quart

6 medium firm, ripe peaches, washed and cut in wedges (see note)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 medium poblano pepper, sliced in 1/8-inch rings

2 tablespoons mustard seed

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

3 whole cloves

3 tablespoons kosher salt

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 quart jar

Toss peaches with lemon juice and pepper slices; set aside.

In a saucepan, combine remaining food ingredients. Bring to a boil.

Pack the peaches as snugly as possible (without crushing them) into a sterilized 1-quart jar. Pour pickling solution over the peaches. Seal and process in a water bath for 15 minutes; start counting from the moment they are immersed.

Remove from water and place on a towel on the counter. When preparing more than 1 jar, allow room for air to circulate between jars. When lids are cool to touch, check the seals. If seals are good, store in a cool, dry place. If seals are broken, refrigerate and use as soon as possible.

Note: Peel peaches if skins are thick.

Dilled Green Tomatoes

Makes about 6 pints

5 pounds small, firm green tomatoes

1/4 cup canning, pickling salt

3 1/2 cups vinegar

3 1/2 cups water

6 or 7 garlic cloves

6 or 7 heads fresh dill or 1/4 cup dill seeds

6 or 7 bay leaves

Prepare jars and lids according to manufacturer's instructions.

Wash and core tomatoes; cut into halves or quarters; set aside.

Combine salt, vinegar and water in a large saucepan. Bring to boil.

Pack tomatoes into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Working one jar at a time, add 1 garlic clove, 1 head of dill (or 2 teaspoons dill seed) and 1 bay leaf.

Ladle hot liquid over tomatoes, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in boiling water bath.

-- Source: "Ball Blue Book Guide to Home Canning, Freezing & Dehydration" (Alltrista Corp.)

Bread and Butter Pickles

Makes 5 quarts

10 pounds small, firm pickling or Kirby cucumbers, washed (see note)

5 pounds sweet onions, such as Vidalias or Texas 1015s

1/2 cup kosher salt

ice cubes

4 cups sugar

2 tablespoons mustard seeds

1 teaspoon celery seed

5 whole cloves

2 1/2 cups water

5 cups champagne vinegar

Slice cucumbers across paper-thin. Slice onions paper-thin and quarter. Toss cucumbers and onions with salt.

Mix 6 cups of ice cubes with cucumbers and onions. Cover with plastic and a weight to hold the cucumbers and onions under the liquid. Refrigerate for 3 hours; drain. Place drained cucumbers and onions in a large saucepan.

In a mixing bowl, blend sugar, spices, water and vinegar. Pour over cucumbers. Bring almost to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove and place in clean jars. Remove air bubbles. Place seal and rings on jars and refrigerate.

Note: These are "counter-top" style pickles that are not heat-processed. They must be refrigerated and should be eaten within weeks, not months, of canning.

Onion and Pepper Pickles

Makes 4 pints

2 1/2 pounds onions, sliced into thin rings

2 red peppers, sliced into thin rings (see note)

2 yellow peppers, sliced into thin rings

4 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons salt (divided use)

4 cups white wine vinegar or cider vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons dried mint

2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon dry dill seed

Put the sliced onions and red and yellow peppers in a glass bowl and sprinkle with 4 tablespoons salt. Mix well, cover with a clean cloth and let stand for 2 hours. Drain off liquid accumulated in the bottom of the bowl, then rinse the vegetables under cold running water and drain again.

Put the vinegar, sugar, mint, paprika, dill seed and remaining 2 teaspoons salt in a noncorrosive saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Pack the vegetables into 4 hot, sterilized pint jars. Pour in the vinegar mixture, making sure all the vegetables are completely covered. Poke with a wooden skewer to be sure there are no air pockets, then seal. Allow to cool on counter top. Refrigerate. The pickles will be ready to eat in about 1 week but improve with age.

Note: For a more colorful final product, you can also use a mixture of red, yellow and orange peppers.

-- Source: "Preserving" by Oded Schwartz (DK Publishing)

Pub Date: 7/29/98