Pickling Okra

I tried the recipe that was posted earlier this month on freezer pickled veggies. Most of them turned out great, but my okra got slimy. Any ideas on how to prevent this?

By Jennifer Gibbs from Mt Pleasant, TN

Answers:

Pickling Okra

Okra is a big ingredient in gumbo. Why? Because it thickens the broth. What thickens the broth is the substance that is making your pickles slimy. I've never actually pickled them, but that is why your pickles were slimy. Did you leave them whole? Did you cut the top ends off? If you did that may be the cause. I'd leave them whole with the stems on to keep the sap inside the fruit, or is it a vegetable? :) (08/20/2009)

By susan cantin

Pickling Okra

I've not pickled okra by myself, but I watched and helped my mother and grandmother years ago. I've tried the freezer method and not only were the okra slimey, but they just didn't taste as good! The secret is to get the vinegar into the pods, the acid in the vinegar cuts the slimy, just as boiling tomatoes with okra is not slimy. It is the acid in the tomatoes. The salt is the preservative.

The method I'm describing here is the boiling water bath and you can use any large kettle that will allow you to cover the tops of the jars by at least 2 inches. It's not really that hard and our pickled okra was never, ever slimy. The first thing we did was to trim the top off, but to not cut all the way down to the veggie.

And we didn't cut off the tip end either. Then we punctured the pods several times along the sides with a fork, this allows the brine and vinegar to go inside the pods. For a more vinegary taste than salty taste, taste it and gauge for yourself.

After soaking over night, we drained the vinegar and salt brine from the pods and threw it away. Then we made fresh brine with vinegar, water, and just a touch of sugar and heated to boiling. While this mixture was heating we packed sterilized pint jars with the pods and sometimes also fresh garlic and/or a small hot red pepper and a spoonful of the seasonings, about as tight as we could get them without squishing, up to about 1/2-inch from the top of the jar. Once the mix had come to a boil, we poured it into the jars over the pods up to about 1/4-inch from the top.

Then we wiped off the mouth of the jar, put on sterilized jar lids and screw bands and processed for about 10 or 15 minutes in a boiling water bath. Our pickled okra was never slimy and the taste was out of this world! Dang! Now I'm gonna have to locate some young, fresh okra. (09/08/2009)

By Juanita

Pickling Okra

Okra must be washed, dried, sliced and sauted in some oil and put in an airtight container. Then when you like to eat, make a tomato chutney and add it to that. (09/24/2009)

By Dorothy