Dill pickles and Dill weed questions..

[blissful]

Charlie, there are instructions for canning that is at a lower temperature, pasteurizing them 185 degrees F, instead of a boiling water bath, at one of the university extension's website.

I disagree with the statement "they are usually not canned as they will lose their crunch"

I just haven't found them to be as crunchy as fresh out of the crock.

 

[Daizymae]

In my opinion true dill pickles should not be made with vinegar. Not at all.

I never have. I make the traditional, old fashioned, socalled "lactofermented" pickles, as my mother and grandmother made. They did not add vinegar.

Here's the recipe:

*small pickling cucs, maybe 4-5"
*dill seed heads
*clove or 2 of garlic
*mixed pickling spice - OPTIONAL.
*Brine is made of 1/2 Cup pickling salt + 10 C. water. USE SOFT WATER.
*Oak, currant or grape leaves to promote crispness in the cucs

That's it. Place everything in crock or quart or 2-quart jar. Keep in a cool place right from the beginning. Yes, it takes longer to pickle that way.

 

[Dawgluver]

Sounds good, Daizymae, I did not realize oak leaves help with crispness.

 

[GotGarlic]

It is no longer recommended to use alum or grape leaves when pickling cucumbers. New research has shown that it's neither necessary nor as effective as newer methods.

From http://fyi.uwex.edu/safepreserving/2013/09/18/safe-preserving-grape-leaves-alum-and-old-wives-tales/

Alum, found in aluminum, also combines with natural pectin to firm texture. While alum has long been used in home pickle making, it can give pickles an objectionable bitter or astringent flavor. While there is no proven link to food, persons with Alzheimer's disease have higher amounts of aluminum in brain tissue. For these reasons, alum is no longer recommended for pickling. If you do choose to use alum, it can be used with fermented cucumbers (genuine or crock dills) only, it does not work with fresh-pack or quick-process pickles.

For more information on pickling cucumbers: http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can6b_pickle.html

 

[Daizymae]

@GotGarlic: Tks for the link on preserving of cucs. I use old methods, it's true. Your article says,

Use freshly picked cucumbers. Cucumbers begin to deteriorate soon after harvest. And cucumbers are susceptible to chill-injury, so storing them in the refrigerator for more than a day or so can result in poor quality pickles.

I use the old advice to store my cucs in a bucket of water in the refrig. That is an excellent preservative until such time as I can gather enough from the garden to make a few jars at once.

I'm going to look into Calcium Chloride as a crisper.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Daisymae, my Dad always soaked the cukes overnight before we made the pickles. Just left them in the basement utility tub until we processed them the following day. I do a quart at a time, so I just keep them in a water-filled bowl in the refrigerator overnight.

...There are two types of pickles. They differ in the recipe ingredients and they differ in the process..

The way I make pickles isn't either of those ways. The recipe I use includes vinegar with the water and salt. They cure at basement temperature for 5-8 days, and then are put into a jar and popped into the fridge No sugar, garlic and dill are the only seasonings, and nothing to keep them crisp. Dad made them this way for decades, I've done it for two years - and no one has ever become sick, the pickles have never clouded or scummed over. If you want only a small amount of pickles around for immediate use, I think this is a great method.

I never have been able to find my Dad's recipe in my Mom's handwriting, but a friend who puts up lots of stuff both short- and long-term gave me his recipe that he found somewhere else, or got from someone else, torn from a magazine from 1995 or printed from a website. I played with the recipe last year until my pickles tasted like my memory of Dad's version. Nothing better than tasting a memory.

 

[Daizymae]

Can you tell us how much vinegar is used along with the salt & dill?

 

[CharlieD]

Sounds good, Daisymae, I did not realize oak leaves help with crispness.

Also cherry, horseradish and black currant leaves.


Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

 

[Dawgluver]

Also cherry, horseradish and black currant leaves.


Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

Interesting. I'd heard of using grape leaves, but not of using the others. We have an abundance of oaks around here.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Can you tell us how much vinegar is used along with the salt & dill?

I have the recipe as a PDF file on my laptop. Unless Himself, my in-house tech wizard, can help me move it easily to DC, I'll have to type the recipe portion of the page. It's not a neat, compact recipe. Rather, it's mixed in with the story of making it and family preferences. As interesting as it is, I really don't want to type this guy's full-page story.

Whatever I end up doing, I'll mention it here and post the link to the recipe itself in this "Canning and Preserving" sub-forum.

 

[GotGarlic]

Interesting. I'd heard of using grape leaves, but not of using the others. We have an abundance of oaks around here.

From the Cooperative Extension link I posted earlier.

At some point, people noticed that if they placed grape leaves in the crock or brine during fermentation, cucumbers were less likely to soften. Researchers later discovered that grape leaves contain varying amounts of a natural inhibitor that reduces the effect of a softening enzyme found on moldy cucumber blossoms. If you use fresh cucumbers and remove the blossom, there is no reason to add a grape leaf to your fermentation vessel.

So what can help ensure that you make crisp pickles?

Several tricks will help ensure crisp pickles:

Use freshly picked cucumbers.
Cucumbers begin to deteriorate soon after harvest. And cucumbers are susceptible to chill-injury, so storing them in the refrigerator for more than a day or so can result in poor quality pickles.

Carefully clean cucumbers prior to pickling.
Whether making genuine dills in a crock or quick-process pickles, carefully wash cucumbers in clean water, making sure to remove soil that may cling to area around the stem or blossom.

Remove a thin slice (1/16″) from the blossom end of each cucumber prior to pickling.
Enzymes which cause softening are concentrated in the blossom end.

Consider a commercial crisping agent (calcium chloride).
Commercial products, such as Pickle Crisp, which are designed to help cucumbers retain crispness are readily available. Use as directed.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Can you tell us how much vinegar is used along with the salt & dill?

Okay, Daizymae, the completed recipe is up! If anything about it is confusing, feel free to ask questions in that recipe thread. I'll answer them if I can, or maybe someone else with more pickling experience can explain things.

Crock Dill Pickles