Really big pickling cucumbers, okay to use?
mochabeans
13 years ago
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Comments (11)
Linda_Lou
13 years agoRelated Discussions
Pickling Cucumber
Comments (30)Total newbie here but I figured I'd put in my 2 cents. I started container gardening this year and I have 4 picklebush and 2 burpless (which I found out too late are not great for pickling so I've been giving them away). With my 4 picklebush, I get 6-10 ripe cukes a day so I can do a small batch of pickles every day or two. I've been using the Ball Kosher Dill mix in a can just because I can easily do whatever size batch I have ready. I want to try some other mixes and making my own but so far the Ball is all I've done. I'm a working single mom with two little boys so "quick and easy" is a must. I bring in a few cukes and wash them, put the pickle mix and vinegar on the stove while I slice the cukes and put them in jars, pour the boiling liquid into the jars and that's it. I've been keeping them in the fridge because I didn't have a big pot that would work on my glass-top stove for actually canning them but I got one this weekend so we'll see how much trouble that step adds. With ~10 cukes, I can fill 3 small (12 oz?) jars which is perfect for a batch and coincidentally, that's just how many cukes I have ripe every day or so. My very picky 7-year old tasted a homemade pickle for the first time yesterday. He thought about it for a minute and then exclaimed "It tastes just a like a real one!" which I think he meant as a compliment? If you're on a low-sodium diet, the Ball mix may be way too salty for you. I like salty stuff but they're right on the borderline for me. That didn't stop me from eating a whole jar by myself last night without even realizing it! My friend swears by Mrs. Wage's kosher dill mix but I like the flexibility to do a smaller batch so I haven't tried that yet. For me, growing picklebush has been very easy and very forgiving. Mine have been through some abuse since I was just learning and started them in small pots, then moved them to bigger ones, didn't trellis them at first and added a trellis after the fact, overwater, underwater, GA heat, etc. They've thrived in spite of it all. I think disease is less of a concern when you're growing in containers because you start with "clean" soil but pests haven't been a problem for me. There are always lots of bugs around those plants but they haven't caused any problems yet. With cukes you can't forget to pick them because they grow so fast. A little baby may be only an inch long this morning and 4 inches tomorrow!...See MoreCan i make pickles with big slicing cucumbers?
Comments (11)Off season, if I want cukes, I always look for the pickers in stores. You would be surprised at how many people turn up their noses to the picklers, and buy those dark green greasy skinned ones. I used to also by the long English ones, but they are still lacking the character of a pickler cuke. I know someone who peeled the picklers. Thats where most of teh goodness is. Now, they realize what they were missing all this time. I would think a freezer pickle would be mush. Some people don't mind mushy canned items. I prefer the firmness of the vegetables, and will go out of my way to make something that isn't exposed to a lot of heat, as thats the first thing that can cause a jar of mush. Non burpless cukes will not cause burps after they are fermented or pickled in a vinegar brine. I grow maybe 4 differnent types of picklers. They all look similar, but some mature much earlier than others. You can see a 2 inch cuke today, and tomorrow its grown to 4 inches long. Suitable for picking. If you let it go another day, it gets even longer, but also bigger around. Once the 4-5 day occurs, the rest of the cukes on that same plant will slow down and stop growing. While I was in the hospital, my cuke plants all died, and had a few big huge yellow monsters that were just squished under the wheels of my tractor....See MorePickle & Cucumber Question
Comments (3)Kenya, it's perfectly OK to use those English cukes for pickling. In practical canning terms, the only difference between pickling cukes and slicing cukes is that the slicers contain more moisture. So, in theory, they soften up easier. But I've never found that to be true in practice. If you're concerned, a little pickle crisp, used as directed, will help retain the crunch. My favorite kosher style dill pickle: 4 lbs cucumbers 6 tbls pickling salt 6 cps water 3/4 tsp crushed red pepper (optional 4 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar 16 garlic cloves, split 16 heads fresh dill. Wash cucumbers and remove a thin slice from blossom end. Leave whole, in chunks, slices, or spears as desired. In a large saucepan combine wagter, vinegar, saltg and red pepper. Bring to a boil. Meanwhile, place 2 pieces of garlic and 1 head of dill in each of 8 hot pint jars. Firmly pack cucumbers in jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Place 2 additional pieces of garlic and 1 head of dill on top of cucumbers. Immediately pour hot vinegar mixture over cucumbers, laving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, adjust lids, and process in boiling water bath 10 minutes....See Moreokay folks...easiest pickle recipe...
Comments (14)Alum makes you "pucker", but it doesn't really help keep them crisp, IMO. Neither does grape leaves or pickling lime, or at least they don't help mine! There's a product called "Pickle Crisp", I think it was sodium chloride, but Ball stopped making it because it wasn't popular enough. Worked pretty well, though, and I'm glad I have a couple of boxes left from last year! I think it can be purchased in bulk still from other companies too. The best way to get crisp pickles is to use cucumbers the same day they are picked, as fresh as you can get them, pack them in ice to chill well and always cut off the blossom end. There's an enzyme in the blossom end that makes pickles soft, apparently. Anyway, for dills I use Chase's recipe. It doesn't meet USDA safety standards because it isn't 50/50 water and vinegar in the brine and it isn't hot water bath processed. I make them anyway for Dad because he loves them but I have to tell you that they break the U.S. "safety rules". Canada has different rules, so they use Chase's method, which sounds the same as Jimtex's way. A lot of older people still use that "open kettle" method but the USDA says it's not safe. Anyway, you choose the method you like, here's the recipe and I just canned 7 quarts of them. I did up the vinegar to 6 cups vinegar/10 cups water, but that's still not 50/50, LOL. Half and half each is just way too sour for me. Dill Pickles "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." Original recipe yield 8 - 1 quart jars 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 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. In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine the vinegar, water, and pickling salt. Bring the brine to a rapid boil. 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. (If you choose to waterbath them, process quarts for 15 minutes) 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. And here's a refrigerator pickle I got from San: THE FRUGS PICKLES In a saucepan, heat on low until thoroughly dissolved: 1 C water 1 tsp salt 1/2 C white vinegar 1/2 C sugar then stir in: 1/2 tsp celery seed 1/2 tsp mustard seed pour the above mix over: 2 cukes, thinly sliced (we use english cukes which are very thin-skinned and don't bother to peel them) 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced cover and refrigerate several hoursÂthese will keep a couple of weeks with no loss of crispness My favorite sweet pickle, but be aware that after I put the brine on them Ashley starts snitching them right out of the bucket on the counter so my yield is never what the recipe says, LOL. Linda Lou's Sweet Pickle Chunks Sweet pickle chunks: Every day for four days, pour boiling water over 24 pickling cukes. Drain off old water and use fresh water every day. On 5th day, drain, cut cukes into chunks and add this syrup. 8 cups sugar 4 cups cider vinegar 5% acidity 3 1/2 tsp. pickling and canning salt 2 Tbsp. pickling spices, tied in a bag. Bring syrup to a boil and pour over pickle chunks. Every day for 3 days, drain syrup, reheat and pour back over pickles. On 4th day, pack pickles into jars, seal with lid. Process in water bath canner for 10 minutes. For something different that the kids love (for some odd reason, LOL), here are some Koolaid pickles. Some people love 'em, some people hate 'em. I think they taste weird, but Ashley will eat half a jar, go figure. I don't know where it came from originally, this recipe was in my local newspaper, but I've seen it on the Food Network on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives". He liked them too. KOOLAID PICKLES 1 (46 ounce) jar whole dill pickles 1 cup sugar 2 cups water 2 (1 ounce) packets kool-aid unsweetened cherry drink mix Directions Drain and discard the juice from the pickle jar. Remove the pickles from the jar and cut each one in half lengthwise. Return the pickles to the jar and set aside. In a large measuring cup, combine the sugar, water and Kool-Aid. Mix until the sugar has completely dissolved. Pour enough of the liquid into the pickle jar to cover the pickles. Discard any excess. Cover the jar and refrigerate at least 24 hours. This recipe is from my old Farm Journal Cookbook. It didn't call for a hot water bath, but I do it anyway and it doesn't seem to matter. I like the onions in there better than the cucumbers and I leave the peppers out altogether because no one likes them: Bread and Butter Pickles (Farm Journal) Quick Bread and Butter Pickles 4 quarts sliced medium-sized cucumbers 6 cups sliced white onions 2 green peppers, sliced to make 1 2/3 cups 3 cloves garlic 1/3 cup granulated pickling salt 5 cups sugar 3 cups apple cider vinegar 1 1/2 tsp. turmeric 1 1/2 tsp. celery seed 2 T. mustard seed Combine cucumbers, onion, green peppers and whole garlic cloves. Add salt; cover with cracked ice and mix thoroughly. Let stand 3 hours, then drain well. Remove garlic. Combine remaining ingredients; bring to a full boil for 5 minutes. Pack vegetables into jars and cover with hot syrup. Seal. (I put them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes) Makes 8 pints. So, whatcha waiting for? Make some pickles, LOL. Annie...See Moredigdirt2
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