I have a couple of questions that I thought you might help me out with

[dolls2]

There are a couple of things that I'm curious about. I will list them and maybe someone knows the answers.

 

why do sweet pickles have to be scalded for 4 or 5 days?

 

why do some recipes call for salted water to scald and other recipes are just boiling water?

 

why do they have to be cut in chunks or spears?

 

If they have to be cut into chunks or spears why does one recipe say to leave the stem on?

 

why do some recipes tell you to poke with a toothpick and others don't tell you to do this?

 

I know these probably seem like silly questions but I always wonder about things and like to know why things are done the way they are.

 

Thanks for your patience. Carol

[Violet]

You put in boiling water to remove impuritites and also to toughen the skins.

Depends upon the final flavor if you want salt or not.

If you don't cut them when called for the flavor will not penetrate the whole cucumber. ( my friend tried to skip that in my sweet pickle chunks and they were not good !)

I don't find recipes that say leave the stem on. It should be removed, along with the blossom end, to get rid of bacteria. The blossom end has enzymes that can cause spoilage and make the pickles soft.

They say to poke them to get the brine all the way through for flavor.

 

What kind of books are you reading to get this from ? Be sure you get recipes from reliable, current, safety tested books and sites.

Not all recipes are safe to follow. . Many old pickle recipes are just that, old, and should not be followed. They were often based on vinegar that was much more acidic than our current 5 % vinegar and also often do not even have any processing times given.

Even pickles need processing.

[dolls2]

Thanks Violet. I go all over the internet getting info and also books. I don't make anything however unless it's from The Ball Canning Book or recommended here. These were just things I've picked up and was questioning why.

 

The Cucumber Farm near me has been a wealth of info and I think they are the ones who said the stem should be left on. She didn't say why and she said it wouldn't hurt anything to cut them off it just didn't help anything either.

 

My first 7 pints of dill pickles that I made probably won't even tast like pickles because I didn't know how much dill to put in or garlic. I searched and searched until I found a picture of a dill head. I thought the flower was a group of flowers. I also didn't know you put the whole stem in and only pulled off the little side "feathers". So I'm learning as I go and doing alot of reading and looking at pictures and asking stupid questions.

 

During the holidays we will open one jar from each of my four pickle recipes and see if there are any eidible. This has been a fun experience and I hope when pickle season comes again next year I will be alittle more knowledgeable. Our cucumber farm is closing for the season in about two days so I've done all that I can do.

 

I'm on the final scalding day for the sweet pickles that you shared Violet. I was wondering if I needed to cut them into chuncks so now I have my answer. Thanks alot for taking the time to respond.