Gardening Thread - Show me your gardens!

I wouldn't hesitate to use a fermentation recipe from an old 30's cookbook. But a fermentation recipe from the internet...not so much.

 

https://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/wild-chef/2011/08/recipe-how-make-jalapeno-pickles#page-2

This is the recipe I use but I also add a clove or 2 of garlic and a slice or 2 of white onion to the jar.

I second this, I've also found most of them are so big that people avoid them if I bring a jar to share at work. Gives a lot more opportunity to share them if you have a jar stuffed full of spears.

 

Yeah, the largest that I do are usually sliced in half lengthwise, and those are just for me to munch on around the house . Probably 90% of them get sliced up as spears or sandwich slicers

 

I dont know how safe it is but after the dills are gone I use the brine and put however many boiled eggs in the jar and let them sit for a couple weeks. I havent died or got sick yet

 

If you refrigerate them it will definitely be safe. If not, probably still safe.

 

My Recipe:

Brine-

• 3 3/4 cups water
• 3 3/4 cups vinegar (I prefer cider but white is fine)
• 1/3 cup canning & pickling salt

Ancillaries-

• fresh dill
• garlic cloves (peeled)
• whole peppercorns

1. Combine the water, vinegar, and salt in a large non-reactive (stainless steel) pot and bring to a boil. Keep the brine hot; don't let it cool back down.
2. Cold pack the cukes into quart or pint jars, add a couple cloves of garlic, a teaspoon of peppercorns (for quarts; 1/2 tsp for pints), and a sprig of dill.
3. Cover with hot brine, leave 1/2" head space (don't add the brine until the water bath canner is at a rolling boil and you're ready to immediately process the jars!!)
4. Put the lid on and tighten the band just enough to hold the lid in place, then process for 10 minutes (for pints) or 15 minutes (for quarts) in a water bath canner.
   
5. Remove from canner, tighten bands, and let cool for 24 hours. Anything that doesn't seal goes in the fridge. Anything that does seal is shelf-stable for a year, if you keep it out of the sun.
6. Let the pickles age in the jars for a couple of weeks to let the flavor develop
7. Om nom nom.

Tips and tricks:

1. Use the cukes as soon as possible after picking. The longer they're off the vine the softer they'll be when you pickle them.
2. Use small, firm pickling cucumbers. If you grab a fully-grown soft cucumber you're going to have soft pickles.
3. If you can't use them right away, keep them out of the fridge. Then right before you pickle them, soak the whole cucumbers in ice water for 2-3 hours before slicing them up
4. Cut the blossom end off. You don't need to take much, just 1/8" or so.
5. Chill the jar of pickles before you eat it. 40 degree pickles are going to have more snap than 80 degree pickles.
6. Don't overprocess the pickles! Don't cut the processing time short, but every second over cooks the pickles more, and makes them mushier.

I can't vouch for the effectiveness of adding 'pickle crisp' (calcium chloride), grape leaves, oak leaves, tea, etc. because I've never done it.


Add more garlic if you want garlic dills. Use other assorted veggies if you want to pickle those; this brine recipe is flexible and I use it for pretty much everything I pickle (garlic, dilly beans, spicy veggie blend, dill pickles, etc)


Edit- All of the usual canning stuff applies. Sterilize your jars, keep them warm prior to packing and processing, keep the lids in warm water to keep the rubber soft, don't wash your feet in the boiling water, etc etc.

 

I printed this post and put it in my recipe book for future reference. Thanks.

 

If it turns out too salty for your tastes let me know; I have another brine recipe written down somewhere that uses less salt and adds some sugar instead, but I don't use it a lot so I don't remember it off the top of my head.

 

That’s pretty much what I do. I add a 1/8 teaspoon of pickle crisp before processing. Wife says they are crispier with it, than without. Agree on chilling the jar first before eating.

 

I think one big mistake we do is putting the cukes in the fridge...

 

That does tend to make them soggy. Just leave them on the counter until you've got enough to can up a batch.
Edit- And it looks like you've been storing a LOT, until you can jar up a BIG batch. Doing 3-4 smaller batches over a longer period of time so the cukes are fresher will give you crisper pickles.

 

Cukes were the one thing in my veg garden that did really well. I read you should roll them in a paper towel and keep them in a plastic grocery sack in the fridge. I tried this and they stayed really crisp and kept a long time.

 

Its a good thing Im not allergic to yellow jackets...Im up to #6 or 7 stings this month! Ive probably killed 50,000 yellow jackets! and thats just a guess. So far the best thing that worked was a dead fish on a stick suspended over water in a 5 gal bucket!

 

opened up the first batch of heirloom banana peppers. And I'll say they are tasty!! Has a little spice from the Thai peppers, little dill and a hint of sweet! And crunchy not mushy!

 

My jalapeños didn’t do well this year. Might have to buy some to can for my dad.

 

Sorry to hear that...ours did ok. I was waiting for them to get a little hotter but I think they are what they are. Pretty mild IMO. So Im going to make some heirloom type jalapenos.

 

Got a guy working on my house. The asshat left the gate open and deer got into the yard and mowed down my strawberry patch, tomatoes, a avacado tree I'm growing from seed. the roses and flowers. Luckily my peppers were sampled but left alone. Deer do not like the heat! So I chewed the contractor a new one and he offered to pay for them to which I said yes. Idiot thought I'd say no.

 

if you were anywhere other than CA, I'd ask if you shot the deer

 

I think we had too much water this year. They just weren’t prolific as in previous years.