In very general sense, pickles refer to any vegetables or fruit that is preserved by salt or acid. Certainly, the vegetable most often associated with pickles is the cucumber.
The cucumber pickle has been a popular item in the American diet. Cumber pickles are made from immature cucumbers measuring approximately an inch in diameter and 3-5 inches long.
Less than half of the pickles consumed in the United States undergo lactic acid fermentation. Rather acetic acid can be added directly as the pickling acid, omitting the fermentation step.
The major operations utilized in the production of cucumber pickles are:
*Fermentation of whole or sliced cucumbers in a concentrated salt solution called a brine
*Soaking of the pickles in hot water to remove some of the salt
*Canning the pickles in a mixture of vinegar and various seasoning
The pickle slice on top of a fast food hamburger is probably not a fermented type. Billions of hamburgers are sold every year by fast food franchises and they contain a slice of a pickle inside.
Pickles should always be made from cucumbers that have been harvested within the last 24 hours. Cucumbers will begin to develop hollow centers when they’re let stand for 24 hours or more after harvest before beginning pickling process.
Pickled cucumber
