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pickling My simple pickles

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dragon49

This is my first pickling attempt.  I'm growing a ton of cucumbers this year and needed a way to preserve them.  These aren't spicy at all because I'm sharing them with non-chilehead family members.  
 
These proportions filled seven 16 ounce glass jars that were stuffed with cucumbers.  I also added 1.4 grams of fresh dill heads and 5 grams of dill to each jar.  As you can see from this pictures, I wasn't very uniform with the way that I sliced the cucumbers.  I think my jars are smaller and thinner than traditional pickling jars, but they have good seals:
 
8 cups of water
2 cups of Distilled White Vinegar
1/2 cup of Kosher salt
1/4 cup of sugar
 
I boiled the mix for a few minutes before pouring it into the jars.
 
For my first attempt I am happy with the result and I look forward to making a spicy batch.  A few notes:
 
I didn’t notice enough of a dill influence, but am wondering if that flavor will intensify after the brine has more time to soak in—I'm reviewing my product after making it only 5 days ago.  I'm not sure if the pickles will get more sour as they age, but if they don't, I'm going to increase the vinegar to water ratio for future batches. Some friends and family members have complained that the pickles are too salty, but I don't share the opinion.
 
I abhor garlic and onions and will always leave them out my recipes.  I'm thinking about adding some bay leaves and mustard seeds to future batches.  
 
I don't have a pressure canner, so these are sitting in my refrigerator.
 
 
 
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Get Heinz cider vinegar in the glass quart jars, NOT the gallon jugs. The gallon jugs are only cider flavored.
 
IMO cider vinegar goes so much better with cucumber pickles. I would also increase the vinegar to water ratio. I use 50/50 when making refrigerator dills. Add a grape leaf or two if you can find them too. The natural tannin in the leaves help keep them crisp.
 
BTW, IMO its hard to over do the dill when making pickles. I grow dill every year and especially love baby dill.
 
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ShowMeDaSauce said:
Get Heinz cider vinegar in the glass quart jars, NOT the gallon jugs. The gallon jugs are only cider flavored.
 
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Cider vinegar can be found in gallon jugs, but definitely watch out to get actual cider vinegar, not cider FLAVORED.  And it does have a different flavor than white distilled.  Not bad, just different, make sure you want that flavor for the pickles before doing up dozens of jars.  :) 
 
And I agree to up the vinegar content.  It will give more of the pickled flavor, which is probably not very prominent in a 8c water:2c vinegar solution.   at least 50:50 or even an inverse of the original ratios. 
 
Have Fun!
 
salsalady said:
 
Cider vinegar can be found in gallon jugs, but definitely watch out to get actual cider vinegar, not cider FLAVORED.  And it does have a different flavor than white distilled.  Not bad, just different, make sure you want that flavor for the pickles before doing up dozens of jars.  :)
 
And I agree to up the vinegar content.  It will give more of the pickled flavor, which is probably not very prominent in a 8c water:2c vinegar solution.   at least 50:50 or even an inverse of the original ratios. 
 
Have Fun!
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I'm fine with the white vinegar—AND it is damn cheap.  My local supermarket has it at $1.19 for a quart.  I am definitely going to up the ratio to at least 50:50 for future batches as my pickles aren't "pickley" enough.  I'm also going to add mustard seeds and some chiles to the jars.
 
I am having fun :)
 
I don't want cider vinegar anywhere near pickles. In fact no vinegar at all. Look up brine pickles, no vinegar, that is a real pickle in NYC. Sour, half sour, new. Those are all stages of the fermentation in the brine. No vinegar.
 
I make em both ways. I have about 4 gallons of pickles with distilled vinegar and I put about 1 1/2 gallons worth into brine before I left. I look forward to trying them tomorrow.
 
I can appreciate both but cider no. I'm not a huge cider vinegar fan to begin with but second you need to consider the color.

But brine pickles ftw.
 
tctenten said:
I make em both ways. I have about 4 gallons of pickles with distilled vinegar and I put about 1 1/2 gallons worth into brine before I left. I look forward to trying them tomorrow.
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You can replace the pickle volume with MC's, I bet :rofl:
 
I wonder if the word "picky" comes from being a pickle snob.


Things that make you go hmmmmmm.
 
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