Remember, I am a beginner at all of this and decided to experiment....This weekend I tried my hand at pickling cucumbers. I wanted to do this last year, but never got any cucumbers from the various plants (well lets just say my planting style at that time was the problem, but it was my first time).
So I decided to just buy some cucumbers from the grocery store (I priced the ones at the farmers market and they were wayyyyy to expensive). I purchased the regular cucumbers, although the English cucumbers would have been better (the ones I got the skin is quite thick, so not sure if that will have a bearing on the flavor of the pickle). I came home Saturday afternoon and checked on the garden and this is what I found. The one cucumber that I had been watching (straight eight) was ready (from what I could tell).
I found this video on YouTube to make simple pickles, however I omitted the dill, because I don't like tart pickles (will see in about 6 weeks if that was not a good idea).
Here was my process:
Added 4 store bought cucumbers with my 1 from the garden
White vinegar, pickling salt, peppercorns, clove garlic, and onions from my garden (ones I pulled early as they were bolting)
1 extra large pot with lid to put the pickled jars in to seal them, 1 medium pot for the brine, 1 small pot to sterilize the ring, and 1 extra small pot for the lids (I know the lids and rings could go in the same pot, but the extra water in these pots were needed after the pickles were put in the extra large pot and more water was needed to cover them).
These were the extra jars I had left over (small ones from jelly making and the 3 tall ones, were from a preservation class I took and got these as part of the class). Have to buy another case of the jars before the next canning time period.
Cut the cucumbers into wedges, any slices that were too tall for my jar, I cut off the ends and used those in the little jars. If they are good, this is what I would call single serving size jar of pickles.
I skinned the onions and garlic.
After following the canning instructions from the video, the jars were ready to be sealed.
Here is an up close up of what the jars looked like inside
I did refrigerator pickles. I started with cold pickles (a tip from Annie's Granny). I boiled my brine (water, salt and vinegar) and let it cool slightly. I sliced up a few garlic cloves and dropped them into the jar along with a few sprigs of fresh dill, some dill seed, pepper corn (and jalapeno or habanero pepper if you like hot pickles). Then I sliced the cucumbers and packed them into the jar. Next I poured the brine over them and put on the cap. The must be refrigerated. I don't know how long they'll last because we usually eat them within a few weeks. They stay nice and crunchy like Claussen pickles.
ReplyDeleteI will be trying this over the weekend. I just purchased more jars and can't wait to try this. Thanks for the recipe.
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