Our 1st Pickles
 

We are just starting to get cucumbers
and My wife made these yesterday
Very Tasty!
Cant wait to can more stuff!
Okra is Next.


http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h5.../pickles01.jpg

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h5.../pickles02.jpg

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

This thread is useless without a recipe...... :biggrin:

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

awesome....
how long does it take for them to pickle?

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

http://whatscookingamerica.net/cravencosweetpickles.htm

for regular pickles, don't you just leave out the sweet stuff ?

sweet pickle + radish + cilantro = Mmmmm Mmmmm Goood. :favorites8:

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

Lookin good.

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

Your Right Andy
Had to get it from my wife

DILL PICKLES
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. canning salt
1 qt. 5% white vinegar
1 qt. water
3 tbsp. pickling spices, tied in cloth
Garlic
Hot peppers
Bay leaves
Mustard seed
2 gal. cucumbers
1 tsp. dill seed or fresh dill
Combine sugar, salt, vinegar, water and pickling spices and bring to a boil. Place cucumbers lengthwise in quart jars. First put a clove of garlic, pepper, bay leaf, mustard seed and dill in each quart jar. Then place cucumbers lengthwise in jars. Pour boiling solution over cucumbers and seal.

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

Apparently Not long
we opened and ate some the next day and they are awesome

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

sweet!.. we are hoping to learn this also, thanks for the encouragement

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

Absolutely not critisizing here, just a suggestion:

May want to think about incorporating alum into your recipe.

We DID NOT do that last summer, the pickles taste great, just not nice and crispy. The alum should fix that.

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

Nice job tk. Did a few bush pickle plants this summer and will try a first attempt at pickling also.

Hope to try with beans, carrots, zuch, cuc's and beets.

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

I've read that soaking the cucumbers in ice water for 2 to 8 hours before the boiling brine bath is the ticket to crisp and crunchy dill pickles.

Also, skip step #4, the boiling water bath if you want them crunchy (apparently, the website was told by USDA that they had to include the boiling bath step).

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Dill-Pickles/Detail.aspx

Dill Pickles


recipe image
Rated: rating
Submitted By: SHARON HOWARD
Photo By: Emily Beth
Prep Time: 2 Hours
Cook Time: 15 Minutes

Ready In: 2 Hours 15 Minutes
Servings: 64
"This recipe for Kosher style dills was given to me 25 years ago by a farmers wife who grew cucumbers and it has never let me down. The two things I have found critical to crisp dill pickles are soaking the cukes in ice water for at least 2 hours and ensuring the brine is at a full boil when poured over the dills."
Ingredients:
8 pounds 3 to 4 inch long pickling cucumbers
4 cups white vinegar
12 cups water
2/3 cup pickling salt

16 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
8 sprigs fresh dill weed
8 heads fresh dill weed
Directions:
1. Wash cucumbers, and place in the sink ( I use the bathtub!) with cold water and lots of ice cubes. Soak in ice water for at least 2 hours but no more than 8 hours. Refresh ice as required. Sterilize 8 (1 quart ) canning jars and lids in boiling water for at least 10 minutes.
2. In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine the vinegar, water, and pickling salt. Bring the brine to a rapid boil.
3. In each jar, place 2 half-cloves of garlic, one head of dill, then enough cucumbers to fill the jar (about 1 pound). Then add 2 more garlic halves, and 1 sprig of dill. Fill jars with hot brine. Seal jars, making sure you have cleaned the jar's rims of any residue.
4. Process sealed jars in a boiling water bath. Process quart jars for 15 minutes.
5. Store pickles for a minimum of 8 weeks before eating. Refrigerate after opening. Pickles will keep for up to 2 years if stored in a cool dry place.

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

Great, Thanks TechGuy

and
Thanks Atahualpa

we will try both those next time:smile:

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

I made 2 batches of pickles from store bought cukes, figuring I'd do better if I figured it out before the garden ones were ready this yr.

I made some sweet ones a week ago, and they taste great, but were mushy. I talked to my Mom and came to the conclusion that they were mushy because I used my pressure canner on them for 10 min at 5 psi.

Tonight I made dill pickles, and this time didn't use the pressure canner, same as my Mom and Grandmother did. I also added 3 grape leaves to each quart. I didn't want to use alum, and couldn't find pickling lime anywhere. In a couple weeks I'll openn a jar and see how they turned out.

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

the Ice water thingy that Atahualpa suggested worked Great!

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

My Wife and I are just getting started Canning she has canned before its a 1st for me.
We are loving it
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h5...preserve02.jpg

We are gonna do tons of canning this year

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

Yes, I iced them for 5 hrs. Still mush. They are great on a philly cheese steak sandwitch, or italian beef, though

The wife was nice enough to wash the pans :) She thinks I'm nuts, but the sweet pickles I made are her favorite flavor.

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

Probably want to ice them as soon as you pluck them off the vine. And forego trying to do it with store-bought ones if you want nice crisp ones. And dont slice them thin either. leave them chunky or even whole if they not too big. Oh and that's another thing, ideally you wont be letting them get too big either. Best to pluck them while they still have bumpy skin - once they smooth out you know they been sitting on the vine too long. Dark green skin, not yellow or pale.

We are just starting to get pickles here too... alas I dont think I'll be able to can any though. They seem to disappear somewhere between plucking off the vine and walking back to the house... :biggrin:

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

I opened a jar of the 2nd batch. A bit salty, too much dill, too peppery, but at least they are crunchier. Still edible for me, but the wife/kids won't eat them.

Recipies never seem to work right out of the box. I'll adjust it for next time.

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

mmmm, I dig homemade Dill Pickels... Spicy/Hott Dill too...
Also like the Pickeled Okra(spicy) too...
Our Schnucks has this jar called Spicy HOtt Dil Mix, that has Okra, Califlower, carrots and a few other things too... I can buy a jar of that and kill half a jar in one sitting... After I've killed the Jar, I'll cut up my own califlower, carrots, celerty etc.. etc.. Put it back in the juice and let it sit for a week or so and have another batch....

I like a plain old cucumber on my salad too...
We got a really late (lazy) start on our garden this year, so I'm still waiting for the goods to start poping up...

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

Just some FYI tidbits from my recipe. My recipe calls to use cider vinegar instead of white vinegar. In fact it went as far as saying not to use white vinegar (not sure why though??). It also called for using a TBSP of dill weed or 8 TBSPs of dill seed (I guess the dill weed has more concentrated flavor then the seeds???). Our recipe also called for all of the spices to be boiled (including the dill seed, mustard etc). Our kosher dill pickle recipe also says no sugar. Recipe also calls for letting them pickle for seven days. This is a raw/cold pack recipe sealed in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Re: Our 1st Pickles
 

Not in my house they won't!!!!