Quick Pickles

I'm a pickle lover. I won't say I'm a snob about it, but I know what I like. For the grocery store variety, I always get the Claussen Kosher Dills in the refrigerated section. I can eat any sort of pickle, but much prefer the fresher, crisper cold pack versions to the ones on the shelves that lose all sense of 'cucumberness'. And yes I may have just made that up.

Sometimes if you go to an old school deli or sandwich place, they'll serve a plate of pickles that have that freshness and snap you just know were made locally, if not on the premises.

I've fooled around with pickling here and there, but never really devoted concentrated effort to it. The fresh Kirby cucumber season is fairly short, and that's what I really want for a pickle.

Anyway, over the last couple of weeks I've been hitting farmers' markets and picked up some Kirbys. Had a couple of colossal failures, but I finally stumbled across exactly what I was looking for. The only thing I've tried with this so far are the Kirbys, but I'm looking forward to trying with carrots, watermelon rind (the white parts), cauliflower, green tomatoes, sweet onions...

And here's the basic formula. I'll include my individual tweaks below that.

1 cup water
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar

Heat until salt & sugar dissolve and pour over your cukes. In about 2-4 hours, you've got a pretty good pickle which can be improved thusly:

Option 1 - add 2-3 rough chopped garlic cloves and a pinch of peppercorns.

Option 2 - my personal favorite (at this point) is to use the basic recipe above and include a tablespoon or so of pickling spices (I use McCormicks) tied up in a cheesecloth or coffee filter. Drop in a couple of sprigs of fresh dill.

I sliced the Kirbys up into circles a little over 1/4" but under 1/2" wide, placed them in the jar with some additional dill sprigs, and poured the liquid over them. Couple of hours later, the results were exactly what I was looking for.

Nothing beats that fresh crunchy cucumber essence when it comes to pickles, for me anyway.

a reply to: yeahright

I love pickles and do you know what I love even better...fried pickles!

I love Pickles! It was my staple backpacking diet when I was 19 (say 2 years ago )

Our London flat always had a supply.
Diced Pickles or Gherkins tuna philly cheese all and pepper on toast.

Nom om om

a reply to: yeahright

now your talking!

fresh pickles are fantastic. The deli pickles i'd get in NYC are just something you can't find here in West Texas.

Pickling is a very interesting subject to delve into and make a hobby of.
I make more pickled vegetables than I can eat myself. I keep a survival store that would last for months.
I have to give them away.
There are plenty of recipes available online.
There is no one recipe I stick to.
If you are eating pickles in a survival situation, a little variety would be nice.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Take a shot with the above. I've never been to a NYC deli, but that recipe I posted comes damn close to the pickles I've gotten at delis locally.

There used to be (40+ years ago) a deli in town I'd go to on Saturday mornings with my dad just for a gallon of pickles. These took me right back there when I tried them. Not too vinegary, not too seasoned, very fresh tasting. Just had a couple with dinner tonight.

a reply to: yeahright

That sounds awesome. You could do that with hot peppers, too, couldn't you? Having the pickles and peppers mixed might also be good if you can.

Hmm....pickled eggs or sausage would be good. Is it done the same way?

Cool subject! Something my friends do, and I want to get into as well. I have all the jars, a pressure canner, but have never used them. Pickling is not too popular here, nor any food preservation (except salted meat), because food grows year round.

I figured you meant pickled cucumbers when you said "pickles". What about sterilizing the jars/cans? Are you putting them in a hot water bath or pressure canning? Or just filling a jar with cucumbers and adding the brine? One "trick" I was told is to cut the ends off the cucumbers to make it less bitter if using whole cucumbers (young are best).

Lastly, ever try making "dilly beans"? (pickled green beans)

If you want to try some really spicy/pickles then use brown malt vinegar instead. Also for extreme pickles add a couple of chillies and leave for a couple of weeks.

a reply to: Skid Mark

Good question. I'm strictly in the cucumber stage but I think any veg would work. No idea about sausage or eggs. Honestly, I don't have the motivation to pickle either of those items so it's a moot point to me.

Now hot on a plate, I'm all over it. But I'm not enamored enough with pickled eggs or sausage to go to the effort.

a reply to: Philippines

The above is strictly a 'quick pickle' and not doing the canning-preserving thing. That's a whole other basket of complication. I started out just looking for a way to quick pickle some cucumbers to be eaten within a couple of weeks (or in my case, days). I see no reason why green beans wouldn't work.

Canning is a much more specific and arduous process. My deal above is definitely not that. No sterilization or hot water bath or pressure canning, just a clean jar filled with little cucumber chunks (with the ends removed) and the brine poured over them. Simple and simply awesome.

I'd advise eating them within a couple of weeks, but if you like them like me and my family, that won't be a problem.

a reply to: yeahright

Awesome, thanks for that. It sounds easy enough of a recipe to play around with then =) Thanks for the thread, I'll give it a shot, I think cucumbers are still in season here.

a reply to: Philippines

I think you'll enjoy.

Just remember, these aren't 'canned' so will need to stay refrigerated.

a reply to: yeahright

I too am a Claussen pickle addict.

I've been hunting high and low for ages trying to find a copycat recipe but with no luck so far. I've tried out a couple recipes that claimed they tasted just like the real deal, but as far as my tastebuds were concerned they just didn't add up.

I can't find them anymore where I live, Safeway used to be the only grocery store I could buy them at, but they've now stopped selling Claussen kosher too.


So if anyone has the copycat recipe or knows of a recipe that's matched it nicely... fire it my way please !!

Must.
Have.
My.
Claussen.
Fix.

a reply to: CranialSponge

You could try this. Granted, Claussen's are readily available for me at the store so I have no need to go to that trouble. I might consider it, if I didn't have a retail source.

On my list is a crack at Alton Brown's version of fermented dill pickles cured in a gallon crock. Takes a lot longer, but I'm curious as to how they'd stand up to the ones my dad used to make.

a reply to: yeahright

Thanks for the link, I might give those ones a go too.

But I will substitute the apple cider vinegar for distilled white instead... Claussen pickles is definitely a white vinegar, the apple cider would make the pickle more sweet and less tangy - giving it a whole different aftertaste.

If I try that recipe, I'll let you know whether or not it mimics the real deal.




In the meantime, send me a couple cases of Claussens !

a reply to: CranialSponge

I can't beat Amazon.

originally posted by: yeahright
a reply to: Philippines

The above is strictly a 'quick pickle' and not doing the canning-preserving thing. That's a whole other basket of complication. I started out just looking for a way to quick pickle some cucumbers to be eaten within a couple of weeks (or in my case, days). I see no reason why green beans wouldn't work.

Canning is a much more specific and arduous process. My deal above is definitely not that. No sterilization or hot water bath or pressure canning, just a clean jar filled with little cucumber chunks (with the ends removed) and the brine poured over them. Simple and simply awesome.

I'd advise eating them within a couple of weeks, but if you like them like me and my family, that won't be a problem.

Ok, my first small "Ball" brand glass jar is in the ref. I used all your measurements and it worked it perfect for one larger sized cucumber, filled to the brim. I did use hot water though to dissolve the salt and sugar, along with some garlic slices and peppercorns. However, I had to use the common cane sugar vinegar as that is what I have now and the most common here. Now the jar is in the ref cooling down.

Let's see if I have anything left when I wake up, or if it's all gone. It looks like a great recipe so far! No doubt if it's popular with the fam this will be a regular event

a reply to: Philippines

Excellent! I hope you all like it. Quick pickling is one of those things that lends itself to a near infinite variety of experimentation and choices. You can tweak it constantly to see what works best for you. And it's not a bank breaker so if you end up with a batch that doesn't work, it's not a disaster. I definitely dumped a couple of attempts.

a reply to: yeahright

Quick pickling is one of those things that lends itself to a near infinite variety of experimentation and choices. You can tweak it constantly to see what works best for you.

I agree, pickling is definitely a personal tastebud thing, I can't tell you how many recipes I've horsed around with over the years with pickles (both refrigerator and canned) trying to get them to my personal taste. It's all trial and error until you get it just the way you like em.

I like my dill pickles a certain way, I like my dilly beans a certain way, I like my pickled veggies a certain way, I like my pickled eggs a certain way...

*sigh*

I think most of us pickle addicts are pretty picky about their pickled pecks !




*ducks from the flying tomatoes*