Now that I have been learning more about fermenting, and have been making fermented salsa, plus the sauerkraut and kimchi (which I now enjoy finally); I thought I would try making dill pickles. I saw a guy making them on YouTube, and it looked pretty simple; so today I made my first batch of 4-day dill pickles. I think that the spears should have been a little longer to fill up the jar a little better; but as long as they are covered under the brine, they should be okay, I think. Here is the recipe that I used, and I will let everyone know how things turn out and if they are edible or not.
Who saw this coming??? Order placed. Youtube being scouted. This looks like an easy way to get myself into the pickling thing. My only concern is why is the pickling solution so cloudy?? That does not look appetizing. (Video is 3 minutes long)
For some reason, the Comments are turned off in the video. But she posted all of the directions, including this line: "It is completely normal to see bubbles at the top and also for the brine to get cloudy."
I found another video discussing the "cloudy" issue. I was so disgusted by her dirty fingernails that I had a hard time watching (or believing that she takes the proper steps to keep things clean.)
Yeah, I watched the video so I get it, but it still doesn't look good. I don't remember my mother's pickles ever being cloudy... but then she pickled them in jars and didn't ferment in a crock that I recall.
Dang. I should have scouted for a Pickles thread before I put stuff in the Sauerkraut thread. Let me annoy @Ken Anderson to move some posts around. Heh.
We always thought store-bought sweet pickles were way too sweet, and dill pickles were too salty/sour, just to eat plain. My mother would buy those 1 gallon jars of the large Kosher dills. Drain the juice off of them. Cut them into quarters lengthwise. Put them back in the jar and fill with sugar and vinegar (like you pickle eggs and beets). Let them sit a few days. Those were so good. Just the right combination of sweet/sour/salty. Good to eat right out of the jar.
With my bumper crop of pickling cukes, I have made several jars of refrigerator dills in the past couple of weeks. My husband loves them and will devour a quart jar of pickle slices in 2 days. They were a hit with my kids, too. I'm sure most of you have a good refrigerator pickle recipe, but this is a good 'un... Makes about a quart of pickles: 2 medium or 5-6 small cucumbers, about 2 cups. 1 cup water 1 cup white vinegar 1 tablespoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon white sugar 2 teaspoons black pepper corns 2 teaspoons whole yellow mustard seed 2-4 sprigs fresh dill or 1 tablespoon dried dill weed 1-2 cloves garlic, halved, optional Prepare the cucumbers by slicing them, spears or rounds both work great. Place them in a glass mason jar. In a medium pan, add the water, vinegar, salt, sugar, peppercorns, whole mustard seed, dill, and garlic if using. Stir to combine. Over medium-high heat, bring the mixture to a boil and boil for one minute. Remove from the heat and pour the mixture over the prepared cucumbers. Put the lid on the jar and let the cucumbers and vinegar mixture rest in the fridge for at least 3 hours (though longer is better) before enjoying. Keep pickles in the fridge, submerged in the brine, for up to 3 weeks. (I use a glass fermenting weight to hold the pickles under the brine but I doubt that is necessary.) I found that once we eat all the pickles, I can slice fresh cukes and drop them into the jar, reusing the same brine. It seems to work equally well but I suppose after a couple of batches the brine should be discarded.
Yvonne--I'm interested in trying bread and butter refrigerator pickles. Does that packaged pickle mix make good pickles? I found a few recipes online but haven't tried them yet... I like the idea of using a packet of mix.
You really expect me to remember how my pickled cucumbers from FIVE years ago turned out, @Beth Gallagher ? But, yes, as much as I remember, they were delicious, and came out better than some of my other experiments, if that means anything, ( I am not sure it does, because some of my experiments turn out pretty awful). None of the fermented dill pickles have turned out good, but the bread and butter ones made with vinegar and the pickle mix all got eaten, but by us, and by our friend who brought us all of those cucumbers.
Actually I thought you might use it frequently. I've decided to just use my own mix from a recipe; it's not that complicated from what I've read. Also the packets on Amazon seem to be for very large batches of pickles and I'm definitely "small batch." Interesting that the homemade recipe calls for turmeric so I'm anxious to try them. I agree about fermented pickles; my two attempts turned out limp and mushy. That's the plus to refrigerator pickles; they are crunchy.
Walmart has the little pickling packets, and probably whatever grocery store you use would have them, too, Beth. The one I got was not that large, as I remember. We have never had that many cucumbers all at once since then, and I usually just put them in a vinegar and salt soak before eating them.
When my wife makes pickles, refrigerator or otherwise, she never uses purchased mixes. She always makes the from scratch. I will ask her for her recipes if you wish, but she probably got them from the Ball Blue Book or some other reference.