Comments on: Pickles!

By: Ed Bruske

Ed Bruske — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:56:56 +0000

A, the done pickles go into the fridge, in their original brine. They usually last a couple of weeks at least. I’ve heard of people boiling the brine to kill the bacteria and make the pickles last longer. I have not tried this. Our pickles are eaten pretty quickly.

By: amaloney73

amaloney73 — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:47:22 +0000

Once your pickles are done to taste, how do you store them?

By: Ed Bruske

Ed Bruske — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:54:35 +0000

Amelia, it certainly is a learning process. And results from pickling can be very local, evening depending on the weather. But certainly your taste buds are the most important indicator. Adjust to taste.

By: Amelia

Amelia — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:30:48 +0000

Hmm, I just tried the first batch of pickles I made. Crisp and tart, but a tad too salty. I’m going to use less salt next time. I guess it’s all just a learning process, isn’t it!

By: Ed Bruske

Ed Bruske — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:10:46 +0000

Sylvie, we’ve made dozens of different kinds of pickles, including the refrigerator variety that you describe. We are anxious to make cornichons. Which variety of cuke did you use for that? We are still in the hunt for a recipe that will produce delicious, crisp pickles that keep in the pantry for a long time.

Charlotte, we make pickles both ways–lacto-fermented to eat fresh out of the fridge, and processed for keeping in the pantry. I hope readers will share their recipes if they have one that makes anything like the crisp, processed pickles you get at the store, perhaps something with a bit of sweet/sour and spice would be my preference.

Chris, I am anxious to know how you get your fermented pickles to last so long. Do you boil the brine at some point? Do you process them in jars, or simply refrigerate them?

By: mcmusser

mcmusser — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:32:32 +0000

I do my lactofermented pickles in half-gallon canning jars and since we don’t have grapes or oaks, I use horseradish leaves.

The pickles I did in September 2008 last year were still perfectly crisp in April 2009. Sadly, we ate the last one then and I don’t expect to see local pickling cucs here for another month or so. My own cuc plants are just barely out of the ground.

By: Charlotte

Charlotte — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:26:54 +0000

So how do you keep them? With any luck, I’ll have cuckes in a few weeks (yeah, we’re that far behind this summer) but it’s a long winter — can you can them? Do they get mushy? I did regular vinegar/salt cucumber pickles in a water bath last year, and while they weren’t as crispy as the refrigerator pickles, they’re good and I like them for lunch. I have a crock, and did kraut last fall, so I’d like to try pickles this year (but like I said, my cucumber plants are an inch tall right now).

By: Sylvie

Sylvie — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:04:40 +0000

You were/are organized indeed – bravo!
I made “pickled” cukes a few years ago – canned – and was disappointed that they came out mushy, but then I did not go through adding tannin or the multi-day brinning, rinsing etc. Since then I have made refrigerator pickle cornichons, which I love, but we would need a separate refrigerator to hold enough pickles to last one year. I have meant to try true pickles – so thanks for sharing the recipe.

How long have you kept those pickles in the fridge?