[Sca-cooks] OOP, safely preserving pickles

[Rebecca Friedman]

Is anyone an expert on pickling? I am trying to figure out how to safely
make pickles, and would really appreciate either some advice or a pointer
to a good source (or both). There seems to be a lot of conflicting
information out there. The key questions I have had trouble finding answers
to are: first, if you use a safe quantity of vinegar and properly sterilize
your jars, do you also need to process them in a water bath and for how
long (this seems likely to turn the vegetables to mush, so I would rather
not do it if it's just a "in case you didn't sterilize the jars properly"
precaution, since I know I'm fine on that). And second, what is the safe
percentage of vinegar *to beets or cucumbers* - I've found multiple places
telling me I need a 50:50 vinegar:water ratio*, but the acidity of the
whole thing is going to be affected by the vinegar:vegetable ratio too, and
I can't find numbers on that.

Anyone know where I should be looking? I'd really rather have a more solid
source than a google search for this.

*Except in approved recipes. No sources for approved recipes are given.

Thank you very much in advance,
Rebecca da Firenze/Rebecca Friedman

PS: Oh, and since I'm emailing anyway - anyone have any good recipes for
pickled beets? Canned, not refrigerator pickles, that is.