Pickles

[Nematode]

Trying fermented pickles.
Went with alton brown 5.5oz salt per gallon.
So was wondering if I need to round up the floating coriander to keep from having a problem.
Anyone?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Nematode

Trying fermented pickles.
Went with alton brown 5.5oz salt per gallon.
So was wondering if I need to round up the floating coriander to keep from having a problem.
Anyone?

Not you too.

I wouldn't worry about them.

Worth

[Nematode]

I have tried in the past with unsatisfactory results.
You guys got me fired up to try again.
That and I am buried in cucumbers right now, so if it goes wrong I wont cry too much.
This time I am using a bigger vessel with more liquid above the pickles.

[coronabarb]

Maybe try putting them in a spice bag, like cheesecloth.

[Carriehelene]

So my husband would like me to add his habanero peppers to his dill pickles. I use mrs wages pickle mixes (yes, I know, blasphemy. Now get over it ). So is it safe? Inquiring minds want to know.

[coronabarb]

No condemnation here. We made cuke pickles last year with Mrs Wages spicy mix and they were HOT and yummy. This mix is created for a certain ration of veggies to acid. I would not recommend increasing the amt of veggies. (my son is making hot sauce and just came in to ask me the same question). I think it would be safe to sub some peppers for cukes.

[Worth1]

Habaneros are thin walled anyway.
My self I add dried peppers and let them simmer a bit.
It is exciting to see as time goes on how the heat builds up.

Worth

[Imthechuck]

i recently got a jar of these great pickles from a friend and found a recipe online since they are costly....

http://www.food.com/recipe/mcclures-...pickles-447357

The flavor was there but the pickles were mushy

I read on other sites that I should have cut the blossom end off of the Persian cucumbers and maybe boil them for 5 minutes


Anyone with pickle experience have any advice?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Imthechuck

i recently got a jar of these great pickles from a friend and found a recipe online since they are costly....

http://www.food.com/recipe/mcclures-...pickles-447357

The flavor was there but the pickles were mushy

I read on other sites that I should have cut the blossom end off of the Persian cucumbers and maybe boil them for 5 minutes


Anyone with pickle experience have any advice?

Yes a Persian cucumber is not a pickling cucumber.
Second I think the 10 minutes in the hot water bath is too much and I dont do it but that is just me.

I use almost the same recipe and pour hot water over the cucumbers let them seal and put them in the refrigerator.
The 1 to 1 ratio water to vinegar is my standard for my pickles.
Yes I cut the blossom end off.

Worth

[coronabarb]

Yes to what Worth said, although I do water bath. You will have better results with pickling type cukes. The blossom end contains enzymes that will make the pickle soft. You can try adding Pickle Crisp, a type of calcium chloride. Here is more info for when things go wrong...

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_06/pickleproblems.html

[coronabarb]

Oh, and one other thing...there is a lower temperature pasteurization method for water bath processing that helps with the crispness. You can find it at that nchfp site in the pickle section.

[Imthechuck]

ok thanks for the info!

New attempt will only be with one mason jar until I figure it out

New Plan:
1. Use Kirby Pickles
2. Cut off the blossom tips
3. Give the cucumbers an ice bath prior to pouring brining solution
4. Instead of boiling after filling just put them in the fridge!

Question on 4: The pickles will have to go into a refrigerator immediately since they are not boiled/pasteurized for a period of time?

thanks!

[coronabarb]

"The pickles will have to go into a refrigerator immediately since they are not boiled/pasteurized for a period of time?"

Yes, unless you want to ferment them but that's a whole nuther process.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by coronabarb

"The pickles will have to go into a refrigerator immediately since they are not boiled/pasteurized for a period of time?"

Yes, unless you want to ferment them but that's a whole nuther process.

Barb I have a whole long reply to what you said and deleted all of it yesterday.
Not that I disagreed but it became so convoluted I didn't like it.
Well today I heard something on the news that made me think about it again.
If and when someone doesn't want to follow instructions they at least need to know what can happen as I do.
Some of my methods are a little unorthodox but they are safe and they work.
I will not give complete instructions as I feel it isn't responsible to people trying to learn.

First thing a person needs to know.
Salmonella and E coli can live in and acid environment.
There are several ways to pasteurize different things and as in pressure canning there is a time scale related to heat.
Pasteurizing/heat or chemicals are the only way to kill these critters.
Less heat more time.
I just heard today that they have yet again found salmonella on cucumbers.

So for all of you do yourself a favor and read as much as you can about sterilization and pasteurization.
Also think very hard and imagine something called a chain of events.
Here is one.
Lets say they just hired some idiot kid at the store.
He has handled chicken or even a customer has fooled around with the packaged chicken.
Now without either one of them washing their hands they go and touch fresh produce.
I see this all of the time.
The conveyor belt at the check out counter is a germ factory.
Your cucumbers or what ever are now contaminated.

The center for food safety and all of the other folks the government has out there cant customize food preserving for different people.
People with different knowledge, intelligence or imagination.
They cant have one method for a squeaky clean house and one that isn't.
Canning instructions for the biologist and one for the construction worker.
Not only would it be an insult it would be stupid because people shouldn't stereotype construction workers.

So what they have done is taken every link in our chain of events and broken it to be safe.
I have no problem with that.
Here is what you need to do to be safe.
You have to have a seal so you know there will be no latent contamination.
You need to kill stuff that will live in acid if pickling.
You need to use acid to kill stuff that cant live or multiply in it.
You need to pressure can if you aren't using acid or it isn't high enough.

Why do I use dry spices?
No water.
It is called osmosis.
The more water a certain product has by volume the more acid you will need to use.
lets take a pepper.
It is hollow on the inside and of a certain thickness.
You can use a concentration of of acid that would be less than that of a recipe using a solid watery produce like a beet.
The reason is for it to pickle all of the water and acid come to an equilibrium due to osmosis.
So I would suggest as I said before look up good information as to the why and what so it wont be so confusing.
Ask yourself why it takes less time to can a green bean as apposed to a potato.

Worth

[coronabarb]

That's an interest point about the cukes being handled by customers or kids. I just saw that report about the cukes from Mexico and repeated that comment there. How often do you see kids running amok in the produce section. That is why I always take produce from the top of the bin where most kids can't reach. BUT if an adult handled a package of chicken that's dripping and then handled all the apples, well that is an outbreak waiting to happen. So important to wash all your produce well. And the thought of that makes me sick...yuk!

Will read the rest in a bit.