No, I do not think they are safe. Where is the acid to keep them safe ? They are not even fermented or have vinegar.

If you want to compare, Linda Ziedrich's half-sour calls for 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt to 3 cups of water for a quart of pickles. That would be a safe proportion. She says best eaten within three weeks after fermentation.

The recipe you cite is almost a kind of cucumber salad. I would assume at best a very short life and be concerned about their being consumed by anyone with a compromised immune system. Refrigeration does slow the growth of organisms like listeria but does not stop them.

I would guess in the restaurant risks are minimized by very speedy consumption of the current batch.

Carol

We usually eat thinly sliced peeled cukes with vinegar, salt, and a pinch of sugar left marinating while the rest of dinner cooks (30-60 min). Sometimes sour cream.

Can someone post a recipe for fridge pickles and how long to keep them? We do like the thickly-cut crisp garlicky flavor of Gregg's, you're right, they are not very "pickely" (sp?), more of a marinated cuke flavor/feel so even a similar (or this recipe adapted) "salad" recipe would be appreciated.

OK, I did a search and found the recipe Carol was referring to:

1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed
1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 quart 3- to 5-inch pickling cucumbers
1 dill head
1 chile pepper, slit lengthwise
1 1/2 tablespoons pickling salt
3 cups water

Makes 1 Quart

1. Put the peppercorns, coriander, bay, and garlic into a quart jar. Gently wash the cucumbers, and remove the blossom ends.
Pack the jar with the cucumbers, adding the dill head and chile pepper. Add the salt to the water, and pour the brine over the cucumbers, leaving 1½ inches headspace.
Push a quart freezer bag into the mouth of the jar, and pour the remaining brine into the bag. Seal the bag.
Keep the jar at room temperature, with a dish underneath if the seeping brine might do some damage otherwise.

2. Within 3 days you should see tiny bubbles rising in the jar; this means that fermentation has begun.
If scum forms on top of the brine, skim it off daily, and rinse off the brine bag. lf so much brine bubbles out that the pickles aren't well covered, add some more brine
made in the same proportion of salt to water.

3. The pickles should be ready within a week, when they taste sour and when the tiny bubbles have stopped rising.
Skim off any scum at the top of the jar, cap the jar, and store the pickles in the refrigerator for about 3 days, after which time they should be olive-green throughout.
They are best eaten within about 3 weeks.

So, If I use 3C of water and 1.5Tbsp of non-iodized salt (couldn't find pickling salt), and follow her recipe for fermenting a week at room temp with a ziploc brine bag on top of the jar(s - I only have pints), would it taste anything like Gregg's recipe (very "cucumbery" not dilly though DH swears they taste like some vinegar)? I don't have coriander seeds, though I do have dried dill and mustard seeds, no chile pepper but red pepper flakes.

I've had 1.75 lbs of pickling cukes sliced thick sitting in crushed ice in the fridge overnight - just draining now. Thanks

So, If I use 3C of water and 1.5Tbsp of non-iodized salt (couldn't find pickling salt),

Use canning salt and stick to the recipe. Fermenting is problematic enough without manipulating the recipes. It isn't the iodine, it is the anti-caking agents added to regular salt that pose the problems. Canning salt is sold in the surgar/salt/spices section of the grocery stores and also in the canning supplies section. If you are going to can, you will need to find and have on hand Pickling & Canning Salt.

I only have pints

Then you need to find a larger container for fermenting in as a pint jar won't be deep enough to hold cukes and the ziplock bag and still have room for any fermenting to take place. Fermentation of anything is done in large deep containers. Pint jars just will not work. Any food-grade glass or plastic deep container will work.

would it taste anything like Gregg's recipe (very "cucumbery" not dilly.

Can't help you there as I have never heard of Gregg's restaurant or their pickles. ;)

Please understand that the process of pickling is an experimentation process - for everyone. You just keep trying different (preferably safe) recipes until you find the one you like. And you never know how they will taste until you taste them and the taste will vary from batch to batch and year to year because of all the other variables.

If you set yourself the goal of trying to match exactly a restaurant or a commercial brand of pickle you make the experimenting process that much more complicated for yourself.

Dave

Thanks Dave - should I pour them out of the jars into a large bowl and cover them with a ziploc bag or plate? I used non-iodized salt, but it listed sodium silicoaluminate and I hoped it would be OK since I could *not* find pickling or canning salt in any of the grocery stores or Walmart. I found Mrs. Wage's Kosher Dill mix in Walmart but only in 7 qt size. You'd think if they sold that (or in the case of the grocery stores, pickling spices) they'd sell the salt. I found Kosher salt but that had a "free-flowing agent" added.

It seems like the only thing people can around here is jam. Even pectin was a little harder to find than jars.

Just Googled sodium silicoaluminate - it's anti-caking. So are all my pickles (half sours and canned dills) ruined? Unsafe?

Oh, BTW, I did follow Linda Z's recipe (the second one above), except substituted non-iodized salt for the pickling salt I couldn't find, dill weed for fresh dill, and skipped the coriander seeds. She said it made 1 Quart, but I only had pint jars so I divided them into 2 pints instead of 1 quart. I'll find out if they're not big enough - have them in a pan so if they bubble over they won't make too much of a mess. Put the extra brine in the bags so I can add that if necessary later.

So are all my pickles (half sours and canned dills) ruined? Unsafe?

No they will just have a cloudy brine and a somewhat off color. There will be white sediment in the bottom of the jar.

If you can't call around and find canning salt anywhere then you'll have to order it online. I don't know where you live (you really need to add that you your login) but around here even the hardware and Dollar stores carry it not to mention Walmart and all the grocery stores.

Just Google 'canning and pickling salt' for pics of that it looks like - several brands and several different containers.

Dave

Sorry, when I post on gardening I use my zone. We have a farm (trying to bring it back), it's 10 miles to *anywhere* so picking up a gallon of milk is a 20-mile round trip, but 10 miles to the est, west or south becomes suburban. Mostly yuppie suburban building on old farms - just to the south of us is strange mix of "haves" and "have-nots" as my mom calls them, that's where most of the stores and Walmart are, but just no pickling salt. Another Walmart, Target, etc. in old mill town (not as affluent) to the west, but no pickling salt there. I didn't check Tractor Supply, which is pretty close. I did check 4 different grocery stores, 1 of them family-owned, 1 small but affliated with IGA, the other 2 large chains.

I was looking for Morton's in the green box (or anything), found their Kosher salt in 2 places but that was it.

Or if you can find plain sea salt or kosher salt (in other words the only ingredient is "salt") you can go by weight and use an amount equivalent to the canning and pickling salt.

Don't go by volume. The shape of the salt crystals can result in the same volume (i.e. cup measure) but it's actually less salt by weight.

Carol

I have plain sea salt but I read that due to various minerals and impurities that can make your pickles taste off?

So is Linda Z's recipe "safe"? Of course a lot depends on environment, but I had these jars in the DW on Sanitize until I filled them, I didn't sterilize them, the ziploc bags were new out of the box, the brine was made with filtered water from our fridge warmed in a Pyrex measuring cup (just out of DW) in the MW, but not boiled. I had the pickles on the counter, just moved them out of the way to the (unused) oven. We keep it 75 in the house, I imagine the oven is the same.

Habayit Restaurant offers the finest Kosher Jewish, Mediterranean, and American-Israeli food in all of Los Angeles.

Here is a link that might be useful: kosher restaurants los angeles

Don't you just love spammers advertising their own restaurant!! It adds so much to the discussion.

You'd think they'd have more to do!!

And now I want a pickle.........
Nothing to add that hasn't already been said.

Deanna