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Posted: 10/26/2009 4:03 AM

#294801

	OldRelayer

	Member

Total Posts:362
Last Post:11/18/2009
Member Since:3/17/2007

Subject: Pickles again

I like all kinds of pickles and make them with vinegar. I like the ones with vinegar, dill, salt and pickling spices, takes about 5 days but they don't keep well, really need to eat them up within 2 weeks from start or they get soggie. I am not sure if you can take them out of the brine and store them dry so that doesn't happen.

I was excited about Michelle's fermented pickles. I confiscated my wife's crock pot and went to work with exactness. I used 2 heads of garlic recipe said 2 or 3 and garlic seems to be the problem. They are about a week and a 1/2 in the brine, the salt has diminished considerable but they are basically a garlic pickle and good for one bite, way too much garlic. By this time I was expecting to get a great half sour but not to be I guess, not sure if they will ever get to sour either. I mixed it up, some spears and some whole pickling cukes, I took some and put them in water in the fridge for a day and then drained them. I will say they are crisp, just not very good. I will leave them there the full 4 weeks if need be, but it just doesn't seem like they will ever be real either half sour or sour pickles. Any idea what went wrong. Where they are being stored is about 55 degrees, I understand they will ferment faster in the summer.

I may just go back to my old recipe and just make small batches and eat them before they wilt.

Thanks,
Barry

Visit my website, I update it daily, Barry's International Kitchen

Posted: 10/26/2009 7:50 AM

#294809

	vtcook

	Member

Total Posts:1010
Last Post:11/20/2009
Member Since:6/1/2007

Patience grasshopper :)

If the brine still tastes like salty water the 'magic' hasn't happened yet. All of a sudden the brine will taste like pickle juice, and the salt and garlic taste will dissipate and the flavors will meld into a whole new taste.

At 55 degrees, the lacto-fermentation is going to take a lot longer to get going. Mine took about two weeks for them to start tasting sour - and that was at 70 degrees AND I used a starter (a couple of tablespoons from an earlier batch). If they're already too garlicky for you, scoop out the garlic now.

When you cut up a whole pickling cuke - are there still some whitish spots in the middle? Or are they green throughout. That's a pretty good indicator of how long you've got to go.

The only advice I can give you is to wait. Once they get to the sourness you like (which will happen - I promise), you can put them in the fridge. If you try it again - use some of the juice from this batch to get the next one going and adjust the garlic and seasonings to your taste. Just leave the salt & water ratio the same.

Michelle.

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food."
- George Bernard Shaw

Posted: 10/26/2009 10:18 AM

#294817

	OldRelayer

	Member

Total Posts:362
Last Post:11/18/2009
Member Since:3/17/2007

Thanks Michelle. I didn't taste the brine just the pickles but the brine was all over the pickles so I guess I did inadvertently. I will take out the garlic cloves, although it sounds like just like the salt that too will dissipation once it becomes pickle juice and not pickling brine. Depending on the results I will adjust the amount of garlic I use, if you like garlic pickles they are probably good. They are still light in the center but I wouldn't say white.

When you say put in refrigerator, is that in the brine, in clear water or nothing?

Ok it appears that I have a ways to go at this temperature and that is fine, I can wait for the real deal. I might have to buy Barbara another crock pot. If it was summer, you can pick those things up for $5 and just throw away everything but the actual crock. It is going to be a long winter, this will give me something to do.

Thanks again Michelle, I will keep posting until we have great pickles.

Barry

Visit my website, I update it daily, Barry's International Kitchen

Posted: 10/27/2009 7:08 AM

#294861

	vtcook

	Member

Total Posts:1010
Last Post:11/20/2009
Member Since:6/1/2007

Barry,

If they aren't a uniform green all the way through they aren't completely fermented yet. But, since you like half sours, they're probably getting close.

Once they get to the sourness you like, you can put them in jars and fill to the top with the pickling brine, and put the jars in the fridge. At this point, some people also put in fresh sprigs of dill. The temperature in the fridge (usually around 40 degrees) will virtually stop fermentation. In other words, it's cold enough that the bacteria aren't killed, but really, really slowed down.

Keep us posted.

Michelle.

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food."
- George Bernard Shaw

Posted: 10/27/2009 7:18 AM

#294862

	OldRelayer

	Member

Total Posts:362
Last Post:11/18/2009
Member Since:3/17/2007

Hello Michelle, after further investigation it was the spears that were put in a few days later that had the white inside, the whole pickling cukes were great all the way through. But I am sure you are right when you talk about patience especially in this cooler weather. After rinsing a day in cold water the garlic pickles are almost good, but not quite.

Thanks,
Barry

Visit my website, I update it daily, Barry's International Kitchen

Posted: 10/28/2009 10:55 AM

#294938

	OldRelayer

	Member

Total Posts:362
Last Post:11/18/2009
Member Since:3/17/2007

I wish I had dated this but I think I am on day 10. Today they are eatable, not much salt taste at all and still a little more garlic than I would like but actually not too bad, but like no other pickle I have ever had, I think in a few days some good things will be happening. There seems to be a thousand different recipes for half sours, which would explain why there are so many variation in the ones I have had, most I haven't like very much or at least not what I was expecting. There are a few that require just a jar, which would make Barbara happy, she would get her crock back and the whole up stairs in her words sticks, I think it smells good, it is all in the perception. At the moment, these pickles leave a wonderful after taste that makes me want to go back and have more, the second time my mouth is more ready.

I will keep you posted,
Barry

Visit my website, I update it daily, Barry's International Kitchen

Posted: 10/29/2009 7:19 AM

#294973

	vtcook

	Member

Total Posts:1010
Last Post:11/20/2009
Member Since:6/1/2007

Barry,

Any clean, non-reactive container will work. I've gotten plastic food grade pails from a local restaurant. I often use really large jars. They have 2-gallon ball glass jars in the canning section of hardware stores at this time of year. Since you're trying to keep your pickles submerged - the tall, narrow containers are best. If the pickles fill close to the top of the jar, I put a ramekin on top of the pickles and screw down the lid until it's ALMOST closed (don't close all the way when fermenting as the gasses need to escape). That way there's something to weigh down the pickles.

Glad they're getting close.

Michelle.

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food."
- George Bernard Shaw

Posted: 11/1/2009 10:30 AM

#295134

	OldRelayer

	Member

Total Posts:362
Last Post:11/18/2009
Member Since:3/17/2007

Barbara has been pretty good about it, she always is, but it is starting to smell up the whole house, I like it but I can see how it might not make Barbara so happy. I hope these become a pickle in the next day or two, I don't know how much longer I can hold out. This may be a summer project, any place I would put them wouldn't be much above 50, at 50 I suspect it takes a long time if ever to become a real pickle.

Thanks,
Barry

Visit my website, I update it daily, Barry's International Kitchen

Posted: 11/1/2009 10:45 AM

#295135

	Dulles Dhirt

	Member

Total Posts:2
Last Post:11/1/2009
Member Since:11/1/2009

The grass is always greener if you dye it!

Posted: 11/1/2009 8:41 PM

#295161

	vtcook

	Member

Total Posts:1010
Last Post:11/20/2009
Member Since:6/1/2007

Barry,

If it's causing stress - throw them into jars right now and put them in the fridge. They'll continue to sour, just not as fast. Try again next summer.

Good relations with the love of your life are much more important :)

Michelle.

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food."
- George Bernard Shaw

Posted: 11/2/2009 3:06 AM

#295170

	marygott

	Member

Total Posts:2017
Last Post:11/17/2009
Member Since:6/17/2006

Reminds me of my mom making crocks of sauerkraut. Kind of an anti-air freshener.

Mary

Posted: 11/2/2009 3:14 AM

#295171

	OldRelayer

	Member

Total Posts:362
Last Post:11/18/2009
Member Since:3/17/2007

It is kind of a smell only a mother would love, but not really I think it smells good, but certainly not a fragrance for the house. I will probably take Michelle's advice and pack it in for the winter and go back to my old way of making sourers.

Winter is certainly upon us, I think the Motorcyle is going under cover today, sad.... sad.... then all things must wait for Spring.

Making Beef, Broccoli and Cabbage for lunch, need to get down and get the meat marinating. Oh well if we can't make pickles and ride we can at least cook.

Thanks,
Barry

Visit my website, I update it daily, Barry's International Kitchen

Posted: 11/2/2009 7:12 AM

#295181

	OldRelayer

	Member

Total Posts:362
Last Post:11/18/2009
Member Since:3/17/2007

I have them in a jar with a cap and the house is airing out. I am thinking that I could leave it on the counter and crack the cap a couple of times a day and allow them to cure. I don't know if I am getting use to the garlic pickles or they are getting better. All the tasting has me down to 6 pickles, I suspect these will never really be a pickle before I eat all of them.

Barry

Visit my website, I update it daily, Barry's International Kitchen

Posted: 11/17/2009 8:44 PM

#296207

	velcromom

	Member

Total Posts:1
Last Post:11/17/2009
Member Since:1/25/2008

Your pickle saga made me smile, I love lactofermented pickles & they are the only kind I make. I have a half gallon each of dills, bread & butter chips, and parsley carrots fermenting in my cupboard right now. I love the way it smells when I open it up!

Posted: 11/18/2009 7:32 AM

#296230

	OldRelayer

	Member

Total Posts:362
Last Post:11/18/2009
Member Since:3/17/2007

VM, my first try at fermented pickles was less than a success. The rest of the story is that I had a about 5 or 5 pickles left when I shut the operation down and just used the brine in a 1 quart jar and left them on the counter, not much happened. I bought a pickling mix Mrs. Wags(not sure of the name but it is close I still have the package I could find out). I made them according to directions and sure enough I had pickles in 24 hours, but they were kind of a sweet dill. I will try doubling the vinegar, I suspect that will make them more sour. But then I took the extra brine and emptied the Jar of the fermented pickles and added it to the jar and it two days I had a nice sour pickle, not sure how that happened, the mixture is rather sweet.

I too love the smell of fermenting pickles but it must be an acquired tasted because not everyone thinks so.

I do have another recipe for half sours I want to try that is fermented but in the jar which will make it easier, it doesn't mention temperature but I assume I can at least double their time which was very small as I recall.

The mix pickles are getting more sour as well, I am thinking that more vinegar will really work. This one was a lot of work, boiling and using a sterilizer method so the pickles are slightly cooked but I was surprised they didn't get mussy.

Thanks, for the post,
Barry

Visit my website, I update it daily, Barry's International Kitchen

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