Storing Pickles ?

[jvpele]

Usually after my pickles are ready to eat, I place them in a refrigerator, but I have noticed in deli's they keep them in a barrel in the aisle of the store. My question is, how long will they keep left out.


4 quarts water
1 quart vinegar
3/4 cup salt
fresh or dried dill weed
garlic
1 tsp. pickling spice
dried hot peppers.

 

[Jerseyman]

Pickels

You don't want to cook your pickles- your cucumbers- too much because that will make them lose their crispiness. Just a little boil will help getting them sanitized will be plenty enough- sterilized is the word. A little boil will be enough.

Something important- you want the level of your liquid as close to the lid as you can physically make it. if that means adding one extra piece, than do it. this is important because if you have less air, there's less chance for it becoming contaminated. So here, we put the lid back. We don't finish tightening up either. We just let this loose and then we put it back inside the pressure cooker.

 

[CharlieD]

Hey Jerseyman, welcome to the forum. Looks like to me that you did not read the question at all.

As far as pickles in the barrel goes. They are also kept in cool storage and only taken out to sell the product, it could be a lot of different pickled vegies. I am also sure that deli owner knows exactly how much they can sell a day and take only that amount. Pickles will go bad just seating in the hot (it summer right now) area. If i were you I would not keep them out side, unless they are sterilised and canned. I am assuming yours are not canned.

 

[BreezyCooking]

I fully agree with CharlieD. While I'm not a much of a pickler myself, after many years of watching my older family members do tons of different pickled garden vegetables every summer, they'd never dream of leaving them out at room temp - even submerged in their brine - after opening. I can't help but believe there's a very good reason for that.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Going back to the original question about "pickle barrel pickles" - nothing about veggie pickles ... etc.

I believe the old "pickle barrel pickles" were fermented pickles. Different pickling process than canned pickles .... I think the last time I saw a "pickle barrel" in a store was in a rural community in Louisiana about 1978 - one of those places out of history that time forgot. Very much like a little place Dad used to shop in when we lived in Albany, GA back in about 1956.

Now, just as an aside, if you are canning pickles for long term storage - DO NOT fill the jar all the way up to the top as Jerseyman said! Follow the instructions and leave 1/4 - 1/2 inch of head space (although you do not want to leave more than that - which might be what Jerseyman was alluding to. During processing (boiling water or pressure canning) the liquid will expand and so will the air in the head space. If there is not enough air in the head space - the liquid will ooze out, coating the rubber seal of the lid, and can cause seal failure. As the jars cool - the air in the head space contracts - and that causes the vacuum seal.