Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> songbird told us...
>> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>> ...
>>> I only make "new pickles" with dill and garlic and therefore
>>> only make 1 or 2 pints at a time because even when refrigerated
>>> they "ripen" too quickly for my taste and the saltiness can
>>> become overwhelming. I'm the only one in the house that eats
>>> them.
>>
>> i don't think the salt is required for anything other
>> than the taste so you could always use less or none at
>> all.
>
> If you add absolutely no salt, all you have is cucumbers is water.
> Not very appealing. :-) I use a very minimal amount of salt, but as
> they age the flavor bcomes saltier and pickles become much softer.
> This is the sort of pickle commonly served in Jewish delis. They
> stay crisp emough for me for about 10 days, then I toss what I don't
> eat. I really don't like mushy pickles.

oh, no, we use a mix of water, apple cider vinegar,
salt and a little sugar for the brine.

the kind of pickles you are talking about are more
like the fermented kind that people used to get right
from the barrels. we don't do those kind.


>> have you tried Pickle Crisp (a calcium additive which
>> helps keep things crunchier)? i've not bothered with it
>> as we'll eat dill pickles in about any form short of
>> slime mold.
>
> No, I've never tried Pickle Crisp. The pickles I make and can always
> stay crisp enough without additivies. I would use it if I was having
> problems with crispness. Usually my canned pickles stay crisp for a
> good two years, if they last that long.

i'm not sure if you are pre-fermenting them or not
before putting them in jars and sealing them up?


>>> The only other pickles I make are bread & butter, and I usually
>>> make a dozen pints or so. We don't have a garden, so I must buy
>>> all my produce. One source I have usually has fresh Kirby
>>> cucumbers.
>>
>> we made many quarts of bread and butter pickles last year
>> and the year before, but this year with my brother trying to
>> avoid extra sugar we're not planning on making any of those.
>
> B&B pickles are one of my favorites. I have made them using Splenda
> for a friend who is a serious diabetic and the results were
> surprisingly quite good.

the recent news about most artificial sweetners
isn't all that great and i've never really liked
them anyways. stevia is incredible, but i'm not
doing much with it either. so far i don't have any
sugar problems, but i also don't want to get my
brother into "sugar substitutes" when he's quite
happy doing without.


>>> When I can get really nice green beans I make dilly beans, both
>>> savory and sweet/spicy versions.
>>
>> i like dilly beans, but generally canned beans of any
>> kind are not high on my list of edibles. more like
>> emergency rations in case of disaster or something like
>> that. most things sweet and sour i'd like and adding
>> a little heat to them is good too.
>
> I don't liked canned green beans in general. In fact, I don't even
> like frozen green beans. However, pickled green beans are something
> different to me, and I like all that I've tried or made.Sometimes I
> add a few red peppers to the jars. Just enough heat for me.

about the same here. i love a bit of heat in
almost anything (including many jams ).
unfortunately Mom doesn't like anything with much
spice so i don't bother to grow any hot peppers.
a bottle of sriracha sauce or some curries are
about all i bother with. i do love red peppers (the
non-hot kind) and last year i roasted a bunch of
them and froze them well packed in jars. i use
them as my tomato substitutes now that i can't eat
tomatoes. they've been really yummy. this year we
have about 30 red pepper plants coming along.


songbird