Pickles in vinegar brine are acidified foods, made to a scheduled process with records for every run. The ten steps: receive the cucumbers and keep them cool, wash them and trim the blossom end, pack the jars by weight with spices and calcium chloride, make the brine to the recipe, fill it hot, cap, process the jars as the process authority set, cool them, check the pH of a sample jar, and code every jar. Trimming the blossom end matters for texture, since it holds enzymes that soften pickles; packing by weight keeps the cucumber-to-brine ratio the process assumed; and the pH check confirms the brine did its work. Processing records, pH included, are kept three years. In the example below, a Wisconsin pickle maker runs a day of dill spears.
The short version
- Ten steps: receive, wash and trim, pack, brine, fill, cap, process, cool, pH, code.
- Keep cucumbers cool and process them fresh.
- Trim the blossom end; it holds softening enzymes.
- Pack by weight to keep the process's ratio.
- Process the jars exactly as the process authority set.
- Check pH on a sample; code every jar; keep records three years.
- TaroStack records each run as a batch with its cucumber lots. More below.
The ten steps
| Step | What happens | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Receive | Cucumbers checked and kept cool | Grower lot, size |
| 2. Wash and trim | Washed, blossom ends trimmed, cut to spears | Time |
| 3. Pack | Spears, dill, garlic and calcium chloride packed by weight | Pack weight |
| 4. Brine | Vinegar, water and salt mixed to the recipe | Weights |
| 5. Fill | Filled hot to the headspace | Brine temperature |
| 6. Cap | New lids, finger-tight bands | Count |
| 7. Process | Processed at the set temperature and time | Temperature, time |
| 8. Cool | Cooled undisturbed, seals checked | Unsealed jars |
| 9. Check pH | A sample jar read once equilibrated | pH reading |
| 10. Code | Code on each lid, labels on | Lot, jars |
The run at bulk scale is in how to make pickles in bulk, and the firmness step in calcium chloride pickles.
The rules behind steps 3 to 10
An acidified food is made under a scheduled process filed with FDA, with the plant registered (21 CFR 108.25); operators work under someone who has completed an approved school (114.10); every container carries a code for the plant, product and packing period (114.80(b)); and processing records, pH measurements included, are kept three years (114.100). The process itself comes from a process authority, in process authority letter.
An example: a day of dill spears
Sugar River Pickle Co., the made-up pickle maker in Belleville, Wisconsin, I use in these examples, packs quarts of dill spears. One August day:
| Step | What happened |
|---|---|
| Receive | 280 lb of pickling cucumbers from a grower in Evansville, lot CU-0814, held at 50°F overnight |
| Wash, trim and pack | Blossom ends trimmed; 1.4 lb of spears a quart with dill, garlic and 1.5 g calcium chloride |
| Brine and fill | Brine to the recipe, filled hot |
| Process and cool | Processed as the process sets; 189 quarts sealed, 1 unsealed pulled |
| Check pH | Sample jar read 3.6 the next day, under the 4.0 maximum |
| Code | Lid code SR-0814 on every jar |
The cucumbers came in the evening before and were held cool, since cucumbers left warm start to soften before they're packed. The sample jar's pH went on the run sheet with the date, as the records rule asks. How long the quarts keep is in pickles shelf life.
Get the run sheet
Download the pickle production run sheet. Two sheets: a blank run sheet to print for each batch, with the ten steps, the check at each and its target, and spaces for the actual reading, the time and initials; and the same run filled in from the example. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The run sheet covers one day. A grower lot, 189 quarts, a pH reading the next day, and cases to a co-op and two delis: when a lot needs tracing, the code has to lead back to the run and its cucumbers.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack records each run as a batch with its cucumber and brine lots, so a lid code leads back to the run.
Runs as batches. Each run takes the cucumbers, vinegar, dill and calcium chloride off stock with their lots.
Jars by lot. Each run gets its lot, and lot labels print for the cases.
Where it went. Each order records the lot it got, so one recall report runs from a cucumber lot to every customer.
| The job | Clipboard | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which grower's cucumbers went into a run | A note on the clipboard | Batches by lot |
| Quarts made and pulled | Counted at the end | On the batch |
| Which stores got a lot | Invoices | One recall report |
Recipes, batches, lots and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.