Refrigerator Pickles (two thumbs up)

[milabeth]

I just made our second batch of refrigerator pickles and they are really good even after only 2 days!  I have to hide them from my 8 year old next time - he ate almost the whole first batch   I also threw in some green tomatoes that were sacrificed during a baseball game and some gypsy peppers.  Enjoy!

2 cups cold water
1/3 cup of white vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon sea salt
5 peppercorns
freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup chopped spring onions or some chives
3 - 4 cloves of peeled and smashed whole garlic
10 sprigs of dill (flowers too if you have them)
shake of red pepper flakes

Pour over quartered cucumbers (pickle or not) and other halved veggies, cover and put in fridge.  Wait for at least two days, shaking occasionally to mix and then plan to plant second Earthbox of cucumbers next year!

[tag]

Hmm, I bet this would be good with okra too.

[LavendulaFleur]

Maybe with green beans?

[agrif]

Just took my batch of pickles around to the neighbors for tasting. Everyone loved them. Easy and delicious. Thanks 

[dianasgarden]

These sound great, and thanks for sharing the recipe.

Just wondering if you boiled the water and spices first, or not.

Diana

[milabeth]

These sound great, and thanks for sharing the recipe.

Just wondering if you boiled the water and spices first, or not.

Diana

I did dissolve the salt/sugar in the first batch because I was using large sized sea salt.  I haven't done so since and didn't notice any difference. 

[JB]

Hello pickle makers,

First time for me with pickles. I have a couple of questions for those of you who have tried Milabeth's recipe (including Milabeth, of course!):

1) About how many cucumbers do you use (or pounds)?
2) Do you store this in a glass container? If not, what do you use?
3) When you cut dill flowers, at what point of flowering are they, and does it matter?

Thanks,
JB

[Deb]

1-  You want the brine to completely cover the vegetables, so it will depend a lot on your container how many pounds of cucumbers or other vegetables you will use, this amount will probably make a quart jar full.  You can always increase the brine ingredients. 

2-  Glass is a safe storage container for pickles.  Some of the cheaper stainless steel, as well as plastic and aluminum will react with the vinegar.

3-  It doesn't really matter.  Around here, it is hard to find flowering dill and I often use seeds.  The dill has more flavor when flowering.

***4***  This is a safe recipe for refrigerator pickles.  It is not safe for canning or long term storage.  It doesn't have enough vinegar for that.  As you eat the pickles, you can 'refresh' the brine by adding more vinegar and add more or different vegetables as the season goes along.  Table and many other salts might make the brine cloudy.  For a clear brine, use canning and pickling salt.  Try this basic recipe with different vinegars and see which you like the best.  If you have tons of cucumbers and want to make a year's worth of dill pickles, check out the recipes and methods in the Ball Blue Book (BBB) or www.uga.edu/nchfp/index

Deb

[JB]

Deb,

Are you suggesting using pickling salt instead of sea salt, or does sea salt leave the brine clear as well?

Would a glass/ceramic casserole dish that has a plastic lid be ok?

I might try beans in this, too. I tried to make dilly beans from the Ball Blue Book--a friend does them and they were superb. My first attempt was........ less than stellar! Talk about pucker!  I still have some canned from two years ago. I'm wondering if I can rinse them to take some of the punch out....

JB

[Deb]

JB- I read something today that implyed sea salt might make a clear brine.  There are several different packages at my local health /food supplement store that are all labeled as sea salt.  Maybe some or all of them will make a clear brine.  Maybe you don't care if the brine is clear or cloudy.  It's not going to affect the safety of the pickles, just the looks.  Plain table salt will definetly cause a cloudy brine because of the anticaking ingredients they have in them.

Your casserole dish should be fine to use.  Just keep the brine covering the vegetables.

No reason not to try this basic recipe with beans or other vegetables.  At a family food fest one year, I saw a brother and bro-n-law almost fighting over the last pickled cauliflower.  They said it was the first time they liked cauliflower.  I had to promise them each a jar of their own.  ;>

My Pops once used way too much salt in his pickles.  He rinsed them off as he used them, and he was satisfied.  If rinsing your beans doesn't make them more edible, then you'll want to empty them out so you can reused the jars.  No point keeping something around that no one will eat.  Look for the book 'The Joy of Pickling' by Linda Ziedrich - maybe Amazon has it - and help me think of a use for pickled grapes.  ;>

Deb

[JB]

Thanks Deb. Actually, the sea salt I used is leaving everything pretty clear.

For your pickled grapes... what about putting them in chicken salad?  I've had chicken salad with sweet pickles in it before, so why not grapes?

J.

[milabeth]

Hi JB and all.  For my pickles I pack them into a tupperware to fit the number of cucumbers I have and cover with the brine and shake every time I remember.  I have used tomatoes with this brine and they were yummy.  My last batch I added too much hot red pepper and it was too spicy for the kids.

[JB]

oooooo just tried the first one. VERY yummy! Great crunch, too.

If you were to put green beans in this mix, would you cook them at all first?

And for re-using the brine, pardon me if I sound clueless, do you take the already brined pickles and put them elsewhere (otherwise you can't tell the new from the old), or perhaps your family eats them so fast, you don't have to think about it!!)

Going to try the bread & butter ones next :-)

JB

[MamaKat]

making up a batch today! will be adding green beans and baby jalepenos.  might even throw in some rounds of yellw squash.

[JB]

MamaKat--are you cooking the beans at all first?

J