Crispy Pickles

[Shandy]

I don't can pickles because I always ended up with soft pickles.

 

I have a bumper crop of cukes that we can't eat fresh, so I guess I'm going to try again.

 

How bout some recipes that you guys love for both sweet and dill pickles?

 

But most especially....what are your tricks for keeping your pickles crisp?

[Canned Nerd]

If you really want 'crisp' pickles, then you must stick with the REFRIGERATED kind that are not cooked.

 

Cooking/Canning any vegetable will cause it to soften and lose its crunch. I 'can' pickles all the time and to reduce the softness I keep the pickling cucumbers on ICE for a few hours before they go into the jars. I also add 3/4 tsp of Calcium Chloride to each pint jar. Calcium Chloride is a form of salt and used to be sold by Ball® Canning as "pickle crisp", but no longer do so since they lost their primary supplier. It can be found online by it regular name. Fresh grape leaves in a jar also have a chemical that works.

 

In years past it was common to use Alum or Pickling Lime soaks, but its being discouraged today because of the dangers of using these products.

 

[Crazy4Canning]

Hi Shandy,

 

I had the same luck as you until I tried "Pickle Crisp", straight food grade Calcium Chloride. You add some to each pint or quart and it makes the pickles crisp just like store bought ones.

 

YES, good flavor AND a crisp pickle. I was so excited. Last year I tried the BBB dill recipe, the BBB sweet pickle recipe and Mrs Wage's bread and butter pickles (ridiculously easy!). I also did the dill and sweet relish from the BBB. In each jar I put in some pickle crisp. On a few jars, I ran out, and it's readily apparent that they're less crisp. Still flavorful but less crisp.

 

Ball used to sell this in a small green box. Now, suddenly, you can't find it anywhere. It was also expensive - $6 for a tiny box! Being the resourceful sort, I called around and discovered that Pickle Crisp is nothing but FOOD GRADE Calcium Chloride and that brewers use it to keep their mash hard.

 

So, I order it in bulk from a brewer's warehouse and sell it so that everyone around me can have some. I'm due to pick up 25# here tomorrow and would be happy to mail you some. I used to sell it $6 for 1 lb. The price has gone up a bit, so after I get my new order, I'll do the math and see if I can still stick to that price.

 

Send me a pm if you're interested and I'll mail you some.

 

Violet is so smart - she discovered that you can use this for things other than pickles! She added this to vegetables to keep them firm - potatoes, carrots, etc. Her canned potatoes are perfect....then again, most of what she cans is perfect too.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Check out the National Center for Food Preservation and what they have to say about pickles:

 

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_06/prep_foods.html

 

Regarding CN's advice of fridge pickles, do be careful that you are fermenting your pickles. Many fridge pickle recipies are just tossed in the fridge and left there. Please be careful with this, for it is the fermenting and processing that makes your food safe.

 

Also, grape leaves have tannins that while they might help keep pickles fresh, they also lead to 'spotted' pickles and a weird flavor. Some people swear by them, though. I just don't care for them.

[Jori]

Okay, who was at our neighbors house the other night? We were trying to figure out how to do crispy pickles. LOL!!!

 

Thanks so much for the info.

[Violet]

Jori,

The best defense is fresh picked cukes. Right from the garden or farm.

Then, I agree, I use the Calcium Chloride. The alum will make pickles softer as they sit. It is useless unless it is in a fully fermented pickle.

The pickling lime is caustic and can be inhaled, nasty stuff. It also has to be rinsed, rinsed, rinsed as it will lower the acid level and can make the pickles unsafe. Think of Tums neutrilizing acid, that is what it does.

Ice water helps, too. I also agree about the grape leaves. Gives them a musty taste.

You must be careful with the refrigerator recipes. I call them "listeria pickles". Unless yo make a fully fermented pickle or one that you make and immediately put in the fridge, they can harbor listeria. The ones that sit out for several days, then put in the fridge. Those are the dangerous ones.

Check the canning recipes on the site. I probably have my favs on there. Ask Crazy about my sweet pickle chunks. She will tell you how great they are. A bit of work, but worth it ! I use the Heinz pickle recipe for dills.

Be sure that whatever recipe you use has at least half 5% acidity vinegar to water ratio for safety issues. Anything less and botulism can grow since cukes are low acid veggies.

 

[Shandy]

C4Canning, yes, I'd like to purchase some from you. Figure out the price and let me know. We are both in the same geographical area, I believe, so postage should be at a minimun (pshaw! even minimum postage these days is outrageous!), and shipping should be quick.

 

OK. Fresh. Ice Water. And this incredible substance that you all are talking about. I'll pickle my cukes with vinegar as snacks until I can take advantage of this.

 

Thank you all for replying!

[cowgirl8]

i use to make cold pack pickles, they were great. But for the life of me i cant remember how i did it.

[Shandy]

Are those the ones that stay in the fridge and you don't process them with a water bath? My great-aunt does those. But I need a lot more pickles than what I can store in the fridge! They are super yummy tho.

[Cricket]

Violet is so smart - she discovered that you can use this for things other than pickles! She added this to vegetables to keep them firm - potatoes, carrots, etc. Her canned potatoes are perfect....then again, most of what she cans is perfect too.

 

 

Oh! Oh! Oh!

 

I am canning carrots this morning, and I just happen to have some boxes on Pickle Crisp in my pantry. I scooped it up from the clearance shelf a while back for about 20 cents a box!

 

I'll go back to the tater thread to double check, but IIRC it is 1/2 teaspoon per pint.

 

Thank you!!!!

[Violet]

Shandy, no one answered you , so I will. There is no such thing as cold pack. It is raw pack or hot pack for foods. Cold pack was an old time term for raw pack.

Refrigerator pickles are not recommended anymore due to possible listeria in them. I am not recommending making them any longer due to the risk. The water in the cukes or other veggies waters down the brine. Since they are not heat processed to kill any bacteria, that listeria can grow in the fridge. Especially when people make them and leave on the counter for a few days, it can start growing at room temp.

Either I recommend a fully fermented pickle or a quick pack one where you process them as soon as you make them. Of course, using a safe brine with enough added acid.

Another thing about listeria. Making sun tea is also a source of listeria, so we do not advise making sun tea.

More than you asked, but you know how I am !

[Shandy]

Thank you! OK. I think I have enough info that I can do this well...along wtih the Pickle Crisp from C4C.

 

I'll try to remember to tell you how they turn out in about 6 weeks.