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This branch of domestic economy comprises a great variety of articles
which are essentially necessary to the convenience of families.
It is too prevalent a practice to make use of brass utensils to give
pickles a fine colour. This pernicious custom is easily avoided by
heating the liquor and keeping it in a proper degree of warmth before
it is poured upon the pickle. Stone or glass jars are the best adapted
for sound keeping.
Pickles should never be handled with the fingers, but taken out by a
spoon, with holes in it, kept for the purpose.
The strongest vinegar must be used for pickling. It must not be boiled,
as thereby the strength of the vinegar and spices will be evaporated.
By parboiling the pickles in brine, they will be ready in half the time
they would otherwise be. When taken out of the hot brine, let them get
cold and quite dry before you put them into the pickle.
The articles to be pickled should be perforated with a larding pin, in
several places, by which means they will the more readily imbibe the
flavour of the pickle.
The spices, &c. generally used, are those mentioned in the following
receipt for walnuts.