Pickles are foods that are preserved by soaking them in an acidic solution to prevent spoilage The word “piksel” comes from the German dialect “pichsel”, which means "a pitchfork or hayfork". Pikel is also derived from a Middle Dutch word "pikel" which means to flavor, preserve and cook food. Pickling is a method of preserving foods by salting them and then packing them into jars.

According to ancient historians and Cleopatra herself, she used pickles as one her beauty secrets. They have been around for awhile now. Pickles are high in vitamin C, vitamin K and vitamin A. They're low in fat and calories. Fermented pickles are full of probiotics, which help relieve symptoms of stress and anxiety, and improve digestion, too! They also help prevent UTIs.

Pickles are usually called pickled cucumbers in America. Kimchi is made from cucumber.

Today, thousands of varieties of fermented vegetables are available. To learn more about the different types of pickle recipes, read on.

Different Types of Pickles

You might be surprised by how many different kinds of cucumbers there are at the grocery store. Each kind of pickled cucumber has its own unique taste, texture, and uses. We take a look at the different types that have remained popular for years.

How Many Types of Pickles Are There?

There are three ways to make pickles: refrigerated, fresh pack, or canned.

All of them achieve the same goal of pickling cucumbers, but they use different methods to get there. Some of them involve the amount used of salt, and some involve the length of time involved.

Types of Pickles

There are many different types of pickled vegetables, each with its own unique flavor and texture. They offer a variety of sizes and flavors. Here is a list of different kinds of pickles with pictures so you can easily identify them.

Dill Pickles

Dill pickles are the most common type of pickle. Vinegar, pickling salt, or dill seeds are included in the brine of dill pickles. Dill pickles can also be prepared to be Kosher certified.

There are many different types of dill pickles: whole, spears, chips or slices. Dill pickles can be used with sandwiches, burgers, or even hot dogs. They're also great snacks for concession stands when they’re served alone on a stick, battered, fried, and deep-fried in their chips form.

Dill pickles are called so because of their distinctively strong dill flavor. A generous portion of herbs is always added to the salt water. It could be dried, fresh, or as seed. You can find them whole or sliced at the grocery store.

Full Sour Pickles

Lacto-pickles are one of those pickles that are fermented rather than pickled. Cucumber pickles are made by boiling sliced cucumbers in a mixture containing water, salt, and vinegary liquid.

Sour pickles are made by fermenting cucumbers instead of pickling them, which means they are healthier and perfect for snacks!

Half Sour Pickles

Sour pickles undergo the same fermentative process as full sour pickle. However, to create an even milder flavor, half-sours only ferment for half the length of time as full sour pickle. Fermentation times vary depending on the company, but they can range anywhere from a week or so to several months.

Sweet Pickles

Sweet pickles are pickled cucumbers that contain a mixture of vinegar and sugar. They're not to be confused with bread and butter pickles which are pickled cucumbers packed in a brine containing vinegar and salt. Sweet pickles are slightly sweeter than bread and butter pickles. Sweet pickles aren't quite as puckering as the other pickles listed here, but they're still pretty tasty.

Sweet pickles can be used for so many different purposes: adding a sweet taste to sandwiches, stuffing into olives, chopping them up into a relish, or eating them alone as a simple snack.

Bread and Butter Pickles

They're a true fan favorite, often sold crinkle-cut as pickle chips. Sweet pickles usually have fewer ingredients than their bread and butter counterparts – none of which are actually bread and butter. These extra ingredients include onions, green or red bell peppers, and various seeds including coriander, mustard and celery seeds.

They're also great fried or served with Texas-style barbecue.

There are some basic recipes for making bread and butter pickles, but there are also some recipes that include a variety of spices for extra flavor. Despite the fact that all bread and butter pickle recipes include some form of vinegar, the ones made with sugar taste better than the ones without. ]]

Gherkins

They are small cucumbers that are used for making relishes and sauces. They're usually made with young cucumber, Kirby cucumber, or Persian cucumbers Gherkins can either be sweet or savory. They're usually crunchier than a traditional dill pickle.

Gherkins are small but mighty. They're perfect for slicing up and laying on sliders, cutting up into spears for a Chicago style hot dog, or dices and folding into potato salads and tuna salads.

Gherkins are a type of cucumber that are smaller and bumpier than most other types of cucumbers. Because they're small, gherkins are usually pickled whole and can be found at the store or supermarket. You can also grow your own gherkin cucumber plants and pickle them yourself.

Cornichons

Gherkins are pickles that are usually larger than cornichons, but they're not always bigger than two inches long. These French-style cucumber pickles are tiny but pack a big punch flavor wise with a stand-out sour taste.

These pickles are excellent for making charcuterie boards, serving alongside steak tartare, or accompanying pate or terrine. They're so small, they're perfect for garnishing cocktails.

A fun fact: Gherkins are actually called cornichons in France. These two types of cucumbers are actually one in the sam­ple: Small (less than two inches) and bumpy.

Pickled Peppers

Besides cucumber, pepper is another perfect pickle ingredient. There are many different varieties of peppers available, so you can choose from a wide selection with varying Scoville Units. Here are the most common types of pickled peppers.

• Pickled jalapeno peppers have a very hot flavor. They're best used in different Mexican foods, including tacos and nachos and also on pizzas. 
• Pepperncinis: These Greek and Italian peppers have a green- yellow hue and medium heat level They're good for appetizers and Mediterranean-style dishes, too.
• Bananas: Bananas get their name from their shape. They're called bananas because they look like bananas. They're pretty mild as far as hot pepper goes, and they pair very well with meats — especially with cold cuts on a sandwich or tossed in a tuna fish salad.
• Cherries: Cherry peppers look like hearts and have a fiery red color. They come in different levels of heat, ranging from mild to very hot. They're great stuffed with cheese, used in pasta salads, or added to pizza toppings.

How are Pickles Made?

Pickles are made from submerging food in an acid solution. There are three different methods for pickling: refrigerated (or canned), processed, and fresh-pack. Here are the three pickling techniques to use, each creating you own distinct flavor and texture.

1. Refrigerated: Cucumbers are submerged into glass jars with a pickling solution of water, canning salt, and pickle spices and then placed in the refrigerator. Refrigerated pickles have an ultra-crisp texture but they have the shortest shelf life out of the three pickling processes.
2. Processed: Also known as “cure” or “fertilized”, processed pickle is added into a jar and then covered in a salt- and water-calculated brine (salt After being fermented for several months, the pickles must be removed from their brine and rinsed before they're submerged in a new liquid. This recipe takes the longest to prepare, but it has the most delicious flavor.
3. Vacuum packed: The vacuum packing method uses vinegar and pickles seasonings to preserve the vegetables, which are then vacuum sealed, heat treated, and cooled, creating an shelf stable product until the container is opened. Refrigerated pickles keep a lot longer than fresh-pack pickles, but they don’t stay as crunchy as fresh-pack pickles. They're also more flavorful than refrigerator pickles, but not quite as pungent as pickled vegetables.

It means you get to enjoy seasonal produce again when you want to. Pickled vegetables allow us to enjoy summer-time cucumber aged into different kinds of preserves throughout the whole year.

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