Making Your Own Pickles

[rrose070]

Ok, inspired by the Russian cheese guy (and the exorbitant cost of decent pickles) I'm considering learning how to make my own. My mother did, my whole life, but hers were always mushy and gooey and had to be made in a pressure cooker, which I'm terrified of. Does anyone have any tips? Do they really have to be pressure cooked? I mean, I don't want botulism...but this is vinegar, dill and cucumbers...is there an easy way?

[metisdead]

I've been making my own pickles off and on as the urge hits me. I boil up 2 cups water & 2 cups vinegar with coriander seeds, whole black peppercorns and salt. Pour this boiling mix into your container of quartered cucumbers, cauliflower, carrots with the fresh dill. Let cool and refrigerate and wait a couple days.

Edited March 12, 2010 by metisdead

[rrose070]

Thanks! How long do they keep?

[Gonzo the Face]

Thanks! How long do they keep?

Really, Really good ones last about an hour........ unless you make a bushel or two

Good pickles should be as your taste desires, but should still be snappy not mushy.....IMO

gonzo

Edited March 12, 2010 by Gonzo the Face

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

Rose

Do yourself a favor and 'google' recipes and technigues. It's a great idea and many resources are out there to make you an expert in no time.

other easy homemade fermented foods which are beneficial (probiotics) for health are

Kimchi ( spicy fermented cabbage mixture from Korea )

Sauerkraut (more basic cabbage mixture )

Pickled Ginger

Kombucha Tea (can get culture from the local health food store)

You can get a quality SCD probiotic starter culture from Baan Suan Pak store.

and obviously Yogurt and Kefir

People really understimate the relationship of their health to the 1 trillion bacteria that live inside all of us. And it can taste good also. The posibilities are almost endless with all the produce that is available here.

Support bacteria because it's all the culture some people have ;-)

[whiterussian]

Cheese 'n' Pickles , fantastic!!, give me a couple of months - we can feast!

Just need some real English ale and some crusty bread and we've got a proper English Ploughman's Lunch!

Mason Jars for your pickles.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Mason-Jars-t346741.html

[Gary A]

Title: Hugh's Garlic Dill Pickles

Categories: Pickles

Yield: 1 gallon

25 Small Pickling Cucumbers (2 To 4 Inches), -washed And -Scrubbed In Fresh water

4 Large Cloves Of Garlic - Leave Whole, Peeled

Fresh Dill, Amount To Taste

6 Peppercorns

1 cup Cider Vinegar

4 Tablespoons Salt

[Note: Ingredients based on a gallon size jar!]

1. After washing pickles, place all at once, in a large pot of rapidly boiling water. Turn off the heat and immediately remove pickles.

Cool the pickles by placing in cold water of running tap water over them, (to stop them cooking). The object is to blanch the

pickles not cook them. By blanching the pickles it makes them crunchy.

2. Place the pickles in the jar along with the garlic cloves,

peppercorns, and dill. (Place a few pickles, then garlic and dill, then

more pickles etc). Fill to the top, do not push or force the pickles in

tightly, (avoid bruising).

3. Put 4 heaping tablespoons of salt, and 1 cup of vinegar into about 1

liter (Quart) of water. Stir until dissolved. Pour into the jar and

fill to the top covering the pickles. Do not heat the mixture.

4. Place the lid loosely on the jar and set in a window sill or full

sun shine for a day or two. The pickles will bubble and change color to a

dark green. After they turn green, place in the refrigerator. They will

continue to cure over the next several weeks.

[metisdead]

Thanks! How long do they keep?

The last batch I made was on Feb. 13. After I made my previous post, went to the fridge and did a taste test, they're nice and crispy still.

Edited March 12, 2010 by metisdead

[Penkoprod]

From a Waitrose recipe magazine:

Piccalilli

Traditionally, all the vegetables in a piccalilli are salted, but I find the flavours are punchy enough, so I skip this stage. Substitute courgette for the cucumber and runner beans for French beans if you wish. It's delicious with ham, cold chicken, Cheddar or the game terrine.

Preparation time : 30 minutes

Cooking time : 25 minutes to 30 minutes

Total time : 55 minutes to 1 hour

Makes: 1.7kg

Ingredients

700ml Malt vinegar

2 tbsp Coriander seeds

500g Cauliflower, broken into 3cm florets

2 Onions, peeled and chopped

3 tbsp English mustard powder

3 tbsp Plain flour

1 tbsp Turmeric

2 tsp Ground ginger

150ml Cider vinegar

100g French beans, trimmed and cut into 1cm slices

½ Cucumber, quartered lengthways and cut into 1cm slices

2 Garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

200g Granulated sugar

Method

1. Place the malt vinegar and coriander seeds in a large preserving pan and bring to a boil. Add the cauliflower and onion and simmer for 5 minutes until slightly softened but still crunchy. Meanwhile, put the mustard, flour, turmeric and ginger in a small bowl and gradually whisk in the cider vinegar until smooth. Add the remaining vegetables, garlic and sugar to the pan and stir over the heat for 2–3 minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Drain over a large bowl to collect the vinegar.

2. Put the mustard mixture in the pan and bring to the boil. Gradually add the drained malt vinegar and simmer for 10 minutes, until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Add the drained vegetables and take off the heat. Spoon into sterilised jars – if they're not kilner jars, cover them with plastic discs and elastic bands rather than metal lids, which can sometimes react with the vinegar.

Penkoprod

[Thailand]

The wife uses various ingredients but a good vinegar seems to be paramount. The last lot of pickling she did was some very mature garlic cloves, blows tour head off if not ingested with a nice piece of cheese and crusty bread. Not recommended to talk to anyone or even stand close to them for a day or two.

[rrose070]

Sounds like we need a crusty bread, cheese and pickles party!

[butterisbetter]

With the exception of post #3, all the pickles referred to are vinegar pickles. I got a lot of respect for vinegar pickles but what I prefer are lactic acid pickles - the same acid the makes yogurt taste sour. Maybe that's because of my eastern European heritage where lactic acid pickles are the norm. That probably has something to do with the climate.. You need cool temperatures to make a lactic acid pickle. Unlike vinegar pickles, lactic acid pickles produce their own sourness -lactic acid - thanks to various kinds of lactobacillus bacteria. Sauerkraut, kimchi and Jewish deli cucumber and tomato pickles are all examples of this kind of pickle. In the same way that rye flour helps to make a sourdough (lactobacillus) starter, a piece of rye bread thrown into a pickle brew will help encourage the growth of lactobacillus bacteria. A large amount of salt is added to discourage other bacteria.

Here's a good recipe. It doesn't directly specify the size of the cucumbers but they should be able to just fill 3 one quart jars. Kirby cucumbes are the kind that have a rougher and lighter skin and not so lengthy a shape. It's advisable to bite into one before you buy more, since they can often be bitter and unsuitable for pickling. You can substitute other kinds of cucumbers. This recipe comes from Arthur Schwartz.

4 quarts (scant 4l) water

6 tablespoons coarse white salt (kosher, if available)

18-20 Kirby cucumbers, scrubbed

8 cloves garlic, unpeeled and lightly-crushed

2 tablespoons pickling spice (see links below)

6 bay leaves

1 large bunch of dill, preferably going to seed, washed

1. In a large pot, heat 1 qt (1l) water with the salt until the salt is dissolved. Add the remaining water.

2. Prepare three 1 quart (liter) wide jars by running them through the dishwasher or filling them with boiling water, then dumping it out.

3. Pack the cucumbers vertically into the jars, making sure they're tightly-packed. As you fill the jars, divide the garlic, spices, bay leaves, and dill amongst them.

4. Fill the jars with brine so that the cucumbers are completely covered. Cover the jars with cheesecloth, secured with rubber bands, or loosely with the lids. Store in a cool, dark place for 3 days.

5. After 3 days, taste one. The pickles can ferment from 3 to 6 days. The longer the fermentation, the more sour they'll become. Once the pickles are to your liking, refrigerate them.

[Yunnie]

OMG.. pickling stuff...

I use to make Kimchi - regular, daikon, cucumber, and carrots, all the time back home. I wish I could make some here. I've been getting a crazy craving for that smelly goodness. But I dont think the dorm will be too happy if I did that. Not to mention I would need a lot of fridge space. lol

[rrose070]

wow you guys, thanks for all the responses! You just reminded me that my grandpa (RIP) used to make sauerkraut. He did it in a big crock, and as I recall, didn't "can" it. Can you do the same with pickles, safely?

[rrose070]

Yunnie, pickle party at my place?

[Yunnie]

Yunnie, pickle party at my place?

lol Sure, if you dont mind me hanging around for hours. Kimchi takes like 5/6 + hours depending on what veggie you pickle. lol.

but I have no motobike. So I'll either need a ride or very very good directions.

[Cuban]

Seriously if they are any good they don't last that long - they get eaten. I made some cauliflower & garlic pickles (with cracked white pepper grains) two days ago - all gone now.

[sceadugenga]

Back in the day I used to grow my own tomatoes and make enough pickles to last a year. Red and green varieties.

There are some excellent recipes on the internet, just keep looking until something comes up that looks good and easy to make.

[rrose070]

Kee hee hee Yunnie, if you look at my previous posts you'll know that I don't ride a motorcycle (I can go ok, but stopping is a problem) AND I'm famous for giving the worst directions in the world! Maybe we'll meet up someplace central

[cmdream]

My mouth started watering by the 3rd post, Thanks for the initiative , looking for small cukes tomorrow. :-)

[rrose070]

When can I come over?