The garden is going gang busters, over run with cucumbers and a healthy amount of summer squash. I made some zesty dills yesterday Recipe: Makes 8 pint jars 3cups White Vinegar 5% acidity 3cups water 4-1/2 TB pickling salt Crushed red pepper Black peppercorns Chopped Garlic Fresh Dill Dill seeds(if you have them) Start by washing all cukes and place them in a bowl with water and ice refrigerate or place in a freezer(be sure they are totally immersed) they have to get near ice cold - the main trick to getting crispy pickles Wash jars and fill them with water in your boiling bath(my pot holds 8pints) bring it to a rolling boil - none of my jars broke I try to get all the small cukes almost "Gerkin" style the pints will hold ~5 of them some are too long so slice of ends and quarter them into spears - you will be able to pack more in this way as well. Boil the water, vinegar and salt with ~1tsp of crushed red pepper and a sprig of dill add 2tsp od dill seed(if you have them) just enough to dissolve the salt and remove from heat. In each empty jar add 1TB of garlic 1/2tsp red pepper flakes, 1/2tsp peppercorns, and a chopped sprig of dill. Pack cukes into the jars, they have to be ~1/2in below the lid so shorten them accordingly. Ladle the brine into each jar leaving 1/2in head space, wipe tops and install lids and bands finger tight. Return them to the boiling bath for 5mins pull and let cool, check tops are pulled down ~30mins - refrigerate any that don't .
It's a fun process - waiting for them to get the pickle flavor can be a bit excruciating We had a good 1.5" Thunderstorm yesterday so I expect to be picking another peck or two in the next couple days - those will be the Bread and Butter pickles for the GF, I never cared for sweet pickles. I brought all the neighbors a bag of 6-8 cukes and squash last night. I have enough sliced soaking in vinegar & pepper for snacks and Pasta salad with cucumber, tomato, onion & Italian dressing for a side in the fridge.
We made a stupid amount of pickles last year and thought there was no way we'd eat them all in a year. Well, the kids crushed them and we ran out in 6 months. I'm pretty sure we made about 10 gallons worth between the fridge pickles and what we canned.
Huge difference in consumption of pickles when you have a family. We way over did it with he pickles for our needs. The grand kids will kill two or three jars when they vist. We only use about one a month. None for us this year.
Like seeing the cooking process being down outside. Keep the heat and a whole lot of mess out of the house. Nice just to be able to hose the area down for clean up.
We were overwhelmed with sugar snap peas this year and tried pickling them. They turned out amazing. We did a spicy garlic pickle. We didnt can them, just kept them in the fridge. Huge hit.
Yeah save I started using the propane turkey burner for the boiling bath a few years ago. Even with central AC it never really made sense to dump a bunch of humidity into the house just to pay for removing it when the air kicks on. I still do the prep/brine on the stove as there is too high of a risk from bug contamination.
My favorite pickle recipe is 7 day pickles. I will try to find the recipe. I know it takes 7 days which is kind of a pain but they are good!
Seven Day Sweet Pickles 7 lbs. medium sized cucumbers Boiling water 1 qt. vinegar 8 cups sugar 2 tbsp un-iodized salt 2 tbsp mixed pickling spice Wash cucumbers thoroughly, cover with boiling water. Let this stand 24 hrs., drain well. Repeat each day for 4 days using fresh boiling water each day. On the 5th day cut cucumbers into desired pieces, combine vinegar, sugar, salt and spices. Bring to a boil, pour over cucumbers, let stand 24 hrs. Drain well, bring syrup to a boil and cover cucumbers with syrup. Repeat 6th day. On 7th, drain and again boil syrup. Add cucumbers, bring just to a boil, fill jars and seal. After 4 days, pickles look as if spoiled but will be alright.
My grandmother made pickles like that but they weren't sweet. I've made them with her recipe but I think something was missing and they aren't as good. Maybe it was her love.
Not sure if Piccalilli is a regional thing, I've seen different variations in the stores. But here's my version ( my wife makes a better version, but won't share the recipe - hers involves letting the stuff drain through a pillow case for a couple days): PICCALILLI 8 quarts green tomatoes, sliced 3 pounds onions, sliced 3 large green bell peppers, diced 1 cup salt 2 cups sugar 6 cups vinegar 1 cup pickling spice 2 cups water Layer vegetables in kettle, with salt sprinkled over each layer. Let stand overnight. Drain. Rinse with cold water and drain again. Add sugar, vinegar, pickling spice and water to kettle. Bring to a boil. Cook mixture about 30 minutes, until mixture has thickened slightly. Ladle into sterilized jars and process, using hot water bath method. Makes about 7 quarts Awesome on hot dogs
Found this dill pickle recipe in my jam, jelly and pickling book. I had forgotten about it. Clive's Vinegarless Dills In jars put cabbage leaf, sliced cucumbers, dill weed or seed. Bring 1 part salt to 26 parts water brine mixture to boil. Pour over cucumbers and seal. Store upside down for a week. After 6 weeks you may eat.
Yum!!! To all of the recipies I wish I had a garden, my yard is taken up by…… Hmmmm…. I got three tomato plants!
heres mine (so far)......74 Quarts of Garlic dills......I usually stop around 100 quarts...ready for the Apocalypse!
That slotta pickles Had to just explain to the GF if we grew more than ~5 plants we'd have this many as well. I have almost demolished the first batch I made in this thread - a jar goes empty every time company comes over. Wish my plants weren't dying back from the mid 90's ..but that is life, time for a second planting of tomatoes
