Making pickles - question

[Javamama]

Woohooo! After 3 years of failure I finally have a successful cucumber patch! I am going to try fermenting some first- has anyone made them before, and do they stay crisp?
I found some pickle crisp aka calcium chloride for canning, but I am wondering if it can/should be added to all pickle recipes? I haven't researched it yet...

I wish my dill hadn't gotten washed away in the storms Last year I had dill but no pickles - this year I have pickles and no dill

 

[Henrietta23]

That was me last year. All dill and no cukes at all! I had to buy them from the farmers' market.
I still haven't mastered crunchy pickles. :/

 

[big brown horse]

I fermented my cukes last year. They were crispy enough for me, though I have had more crispy ones. I still loved them, they had a zing to them.

 

[Mackay]

Recipies please!

 

[big brown horse]

Who me?

Fermented Pickles: cukes, couple of T of non iodized sea salt, dill, fresh garlic cloves sliced, 1-2 T mustard seeds, whole peppercorns, 1 T of whey and filtered water.

Weight the cukes down below the salted water mix line, with a water filled large ziplock. Cover with cheese cloth and set in a room temp dark area for a few days. Taste.

When they taste good to you, store them in a mason jar in the fridge.

 

[freemotion]

Even if they don't taste just right, store them in the back of the fridge and try them again in a couple of months or more. I was very disappointed in my fermented dills at first, and stuck them in the fridge for about 3-4 months...then took them out when family visited and we were talking about all the fermenting I was doing. I remembered the lonely quart of pickles, and brought them out.

AMAZING!!!!! I will be making as many jars as I can this year.

Check out the fermenting thread for more ideas.

I will be trying the grape leaf method this time...I will a grape leaf in each jar. It is supposed to keep them crisper. An oak leaf is supposed to work if you don't have grape leaves. Grapes grow wild in abundance here. I plan on using the leaves to weight down the veggies with a clean rock to avoid the plastic this time. Some people will use a horseradish leaf, and I imagine that adds a kick to whatever you use it in.

 

[mamaluv321]

Mmmm, horseradish pickle... That sounds funderful!

 

[Javamama]

Ooooo, horseradish, I would loooove that!
I gotta go through the fermenting thread today. Didn't have time yesterday.

I couldn't find any dill plants (my preference to dried dill) when I went out shopping last night so I ended up using a refrigerator Ball dill pickle mix I found in my canning supplies. The next batch will get the ferment treatment, if I can locate some fresh dill. I really want that fresh dill taste.

 

[Wildsky]

I'm going to try making Achar again, dang I love it, I used to make it many years ago - made up my own recipe and used a bunch of veggies.
Its SO yummy!

 

[ksalvagno]

I'm fermenting some pickles. I sort of used the recipe from the wildfermentation website. I had gotten some small cucumbers from a local produce auction. I bid on the cucumbers and happened to win them. They weren't totally fresh when I got them and it was a few days after I got them that I started fermenting them. So they won't be crisp. I did soak them in cold water for 2 hours and it helped a little but not totally.

Also, I didn't have any of the leaves that were suggested so I skipped that. I had no fresh herbs so just had to use what I had in the cupboard and fridge. I had a jar of diced garlic and I had jars of dried dill weed. I did have the sea salt so I used that.

Well, I wasn't totally paying attention to the jars of herbs and accidentally put in half poppy seeds and half dill. I guesstimated on the amount of garlic.

I have been tasting a pickle a day and they have been fermenting for 3 days now. They are delicious! They taste so much better than the canned pickles. Even with all my gaffes! Today was the first day that I had to skim off mold and I did the best I could.

I'm thinking that these pickles should turn out tasty if they are so tasty now. Hopefully it will all work out.