What makes a kosher pickle kosher?

[JustJoel]

My mama’s Bubbe, who virtually raised her in a glatt kosher household, insisted that kosher pickles contained no vinegar in the brine, and were always cold pickled. A rabbi I had a conversation with on Twitter maintains that the pickles are prepared using equipment and containers that have not come into contact with any non-kosher foods, and that the brine contains no non-kosher ingredients, but didn’t mention vinegar. Others said that kosher dill pickles are an oxymoron, because kosher pickles don’t have dill in them, while others claim that dill and garlic are the major flavor ingredients.

So what makes kosher pickles kosher? Just that little certification (you know, the circle with the “k” in it)? Is there a definitive recipe for “kosher” pickles? If you make them at home, do you have to hire a rabbi to bless them in your kitchen? I don’t keep kosher, so if I make the pickles in my own kitchen, are they, by definition, treyf?

This neither pressing nor important, but I’m aflame with curiosity.

 

[buckytom]

One important thing is that they start off as slightly larger pickles, but then the mohel comes over your house...

 

[caseydog]

One important thing is that they start off as slightly larger pickles, but then the mohel comes over your house...

CD

 

[caseydog]

My mama’s Bubbe, who virtually raised her in a glatt kosher household, insisted that kosher pickles contained no vinegar in the brine, and were always cold pickled. A rabbi I had a conversation with on Twitter maintains that the pickles are prepared using equipment and containers that have not come into contact with any non-kosher foods, and that the brine contains no non-kosher ingredients, but didn’t mention vinegar. Others said that kosher dill pickles are an oxymoron, because kosher pickles don’t have dill in them, while others claim that dill and garlic are the major flavor ingredients.

So what makes kosher pickles kosher? Just that little certification (you know, the circle with the “k” in it)? Is there a definitive recipe for “kosher” pickles? If you make them at home, do you have to hire a rabbi to bless them in your kitchen? I don’t keep kosher, so if I make the pickles in my own kitchen, are they, by definition, treyf?

This neither pressing nor important, but I’m aflame with curiosity.

I'm guessing here, but a Rabbi gets paid to watch people make the pickles. Maybe he says a few Hebrew words over them. I'd like to have that kind of job.

CD

 

[Kayelle]

You guys are a riot!

Joel, Charlie will be able to answer your question for sure. My SC said they are Kosher because of the Kosher salt, but you can't trust him.

 

[buckytom]

OK, so I asked some guys I work with, and they laughed. It's apparently one of those seldom spoken about topics because it's not a hard fact.
Kosher pickles can be truly Kosher if certain rules are kept (cleanliness, prayers, Rabbinical certification), but for the most part, it's just a style by which the pickles are made. That would include salt, garlic, and dill in the brine for the cure. The rest is debatable. Oy, what isn't?

 

[Cheryl J]

Nice to see you back, Joel!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

One important thing is that they start off as slightly larger pickles, but then the mohel comes over your house...

 

[blissful]

Funny conversation Buck.

My mama’s Bubbe, who virtually raised her in a glatt kosher household, insisted that kosher pickles contained no vinegar in the brine, and were always cold pickled. A rabbi I had a conversation with on Twitter maintains that the pickles are prepared using equipment and containers that have not come into contact with any non-kosher foods, and that the brine contains no non-kosher ingredients, but didn’t mention vinegar.

I can't speak of experience regarding kosher or non kosher, but from what I know, there is no meat or dairy in vinegar (if prepared with kosher kitchen equipment).

The question though, that comes up in making pickles/sauerkraut regarding vinegar is this:
Are you making pickles 1(cucumbers in vinegar water salt spices) or are you making pickles 2(cucumbers in water salt spices) to ferment?

The first method, 1 , the cucumbers are put in jars with vinegar/water/salt/spices, then the jars are canned in a water bath canner.

The second method, 2, the cucumbers are put in a crock/barrel/bucket and fermented with water/salt/spices(no vinegar). In this method the sourness comes from the fermentation and instead of vinegar acid (acetic), the cucumbers in combination with the salt/water creates a lactic acid, a different kind of sour. This was probably what Bubbe was talking about.

There is a third method of people that use both vinegar and the fermentation method in 1 and 2. I believe they do it because they aren't really sure what they ought to do or why they ought to do it. Pickles 1 and 2 taste different.

So, you've got the fermentation or vinegar question, which is separate from the kosher and non kosher question.

 

[GotGarlic]

According to Wikipedia

Kosher dill (US)

A "kosher" dill pickle is not necessarily kosher in the sense that it has been prepared in accordance with Jewish dietary law. Rather, it is a pickle made in the traditional manner of Jewish New York City pickle makers, with generous addition of garlic and dill to a natural salt brine.[5][6][7]

The references for this entry include a book called "Judaism 101: Kashrut: Jewish Dietary Laws."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickled_cucumber

 

[CharlieD]

One important thing is that they start off as slightly larger pickles, but then the mohel comes over your house...

ah, you're bad.

 

[CharlieD]

Your rabbi is correct. Kosher product has nothing to do with the pickles called Kosher. It's just name and there might be hundreds of recipes. Nobody is going to give an exact recipe. I am sure you probably want your grandmother's recipe.
As far as vinegar, it is just different way of pickling cucumbers. I hate vinegar in pickles. But do love garlic and dill. And I do make my cucumbers into Kosher pickles.