Berries Past Their Prime? Don’t Toss Them, Try This Genius Hack

During the event, Roe demonstrated a way to make a simple quick pickle brine. While during the demo she used veggies, the same basic mix will work for fruits, too. All you really need to make a pickling liquid is vinegar and some aromatics. “Pickling always has an acid or a vinegar involved,” she says. She was careful to point out that while in some cases you do use a lot of salt in a pickle, there is a difference between preserving (which relies heavily on salt to literally preserve the food), and doing a quick pickle (which you store in the fridge to preserve). As for aromatics, she’s talking about herbs, citrus, and spices. That includes things like garlic and ginger—and personally we think berries pickled with ginger sounds pretty great.

Simply heat the vinegar slowly (and not to a super high heat) with aromatics in a non-reactive pan. This last bit is important: if you use a reactive (or copper) pan, your fruit might turn funky colors—though they’re still good to eat. Once the brine is warm and infused with all the good flavors you’ve added, pour some into a sanitized jar and fill it up with the berries. “They gotta be submerged,” Roe emphasized. Leave the jar to cool down for a bit, then stick it in the fridge. From there, it’s just a waiting game: “Things are pickled after 6 hours, personally they’re my favorite after two days,” she says.