Package dill pickle mix -Ball or Mrs. Wage's

12 years ago

Over 20 yrs ago, I used a pkg dill pickle mix by the name of Pilgrim Farm. They were the best pickles. When I couldn't find the mix any longer, I tried Mrs. Wage's and they turned out so bad, I swore I wouldn't use it again. Now, I am getting back into canning and I have seen Ball dill pickle mix and Mrs. Wages'. Has Mrs. Wage's improved over the years? Mrs. Wages' pickles did not stay crisp as the Pilgrim Farm's did. Has anyone tried the Ball mix? Is Ball mix any good? I am not too keen in trying Mrs. Wages' again. TIA!

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Comments (6)

digdirt2
12 years ago
First, why do you feel you need to use a mix? There are many excellent pickle recipes available that don't require using one of the packaged mixes and I think it is safe to say that most folks don't use them.

Second, is it the flavor or the lack of crispness you don't like? I can't say if the mixes have improved or not as I have always found Mrs. Wages to be good flavor-wise and we personally prefer it over the Ball mix when and if we use a packaged mix.

But crispness is a whole other issue with different causes and solutions unrelated to the mix itself.

Crispness is related to the type, quality, and the freshness of cucumbers used and the type of processing done. You'll find many discussions here about that. You can also add Pickle Crisp to increase crispness a bit more.

Dave
Linda_Lou
12 years ago
I agree, why buy a mix ? They are so easy to make.
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Just happen to have an old package of it on the shelf so there are a couple of possible approaches. ;) 1. the left over mix can be kept in the fridge for a week according to the package so you can buy more cukes to make more if you want them. 2. as Shirley says, dump it all in a bowl, mix it up well, measure the amount of mix, and then cut that amount in half or quarters or eighths, cut the water and vinegar measures by the same factor and make the pickles. Put the rest back in the package, mark it with the amt. used info, reseal, and keep. You'll likely still have left over brine to toss but not much waste. Package weight is 9 3/4 oz. but you need the equivalent liquid measurement which I don't know without opening this package. ;) As for not processing? If the mix can only be kept for a week and it needs 24 hours before eating, then can you eat them all in 8 days? If not, I'd process the jar to be safe. Processing only takes another 10 minutes and then you can keep them for months. Dave
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Thanks, I decided to try it, and I also gave some peppers to my neighbor, I'm really over run with my hot peppers, now if my bells would just turn red! Looks like another batch of annie's salsa and some crushed maters, and the pepper rings are on the list! I'm bummed because I grew dill and it did great, but is dyeing off before I could use it! My cukes did terrible this year and so did our green beans! My lettuce never took at all. I don't know what went wrong with it! Oh well looking forward to next year's crop! Thanks again Brenda
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Vinegar (usually cider vinegar) sugar. The toms can be bagged and frozen whole. They are usualy run through a food strainer to remove skins and seeds. Once thawed from the frozen state, the skins are waasy to remove. It is difficualt to determine how many pounds to use as the all toms contain water, whicb adds a LOT of weight to tomatoes. Plum and paste type tomatoes have less water, while slicing and eating types usualy have more. In any case, its a good idea to try and remove most of the excess water and some seeds. You can do this by simply cutting each tom in half, and dig out most of the watery liquid and seeds. It doesnt need to be totally cleaned out, but will offer a thicker end product (more pulp) that would require less cooking down. Once you remove the water and seeds, then bag them for the freezer. Just do the toms that are very ripe and hold off on any that are not quite ripe yet. I use the Roma/Villaware food strainer for all of mine, and it gets every single seed and skins. The Roma is nice, as it doesn't need any prepping except for removing most of the watery liquid inside. Estimate the amount once its been deseeded and skins are removed. Because of water in the pulp, its difficult to know how many to use, but prepare more than enough for the ketchup recipe, and the rest can be made into a sauce, and canned or frozen.
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I use Mrs. Wages for most of my pickling and have never soaked my cukes prior to making them. I wash them well, trim off the blossom end, pack the hot jars, add pickle crisp, add the brine, and process according to the MW instructions. If the cukes are more than 24 hours from picking they would probably benefit from a few hours soaking in ice water to crisp them up a bit. My cukes usually go from the vine to the pickle jar in about 2 hours.
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will6659
12 years ago
The mix is no more than salt and spices and most likely a firming agent.

1 gallon cucumbers
1/3 cup dehydrated minced onion
2 teaspoons dehydrated minced garlic or 6 garlic cloves, minced
1-1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds
4 teaspoons dill seed
1 1/2 quarts water
2 cups cider vinegar
1/2 cup canning salt

If you don't hot process these, they must be kept in the refriderator and are best after 3 weeks.
digdirt2
12 years ago
Will - What is the source of that recipe? It wouldn't be considered safe by current standards. It has way too much water for the amount of vinegar. With the exception of a couple of tested and approved recipes, 1:1 water to vinegar (equal amounts of both) is the current minimum.

Dave
rbfner
8 years ago
The nice thing about the commercial mixes they are cheap, easy and tasty. You need to know how to but crisp in pickles. If you grow your own it's hard , if your like me you want to do 28 quarts at a time, that means 30 lbs of cucumbers. I go to the farmers market early buy the cukes I want take them home but them in ice water them the frig over night. I have my jars ready, and fresh dill weed, just for looks, Mrs Wages polish are a family favorite, as well as a simple recipe of dill weed, garlic , vinegar, salt, and water. An other recipe add red pepper flakes. You know how to pack the cukes add the mix. The next step is important. But the filled jars in the canner, bring the water to a boil remove the jars. Crisp pickles, wait a month before eating. Then with all canned food if its dis colored, looks funny, smells funny, don't taste it , discard it! Wrs wages makes a great bread & butter mix zesty. Ball also makes a great bread& butter mix.
HU-167998657
3 years ago
I put it to a family taste test. BALL, hands down! Crispy with best taste!

Package dill pickle mix -Ball or Mrs. Wage's

Comments (6)

digdirt2

Linda_Lou

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digdirt2

rbfner

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