July 22, 2013
I am doing some fermented dill pickles for the first time. I
have done sauerkraut and Kimchi before and wanted to try some dill pickles. I
read through a lot of recipes and used one from Melanie at pickle me too.com.
Her recipe looked good; all except for putting the lids on tight during the 3
to 5 day fermentation. If she does she is lucky she never had any explode; you
need to let the gases escape. I covered the jars with cheese cloth and used the
canning rings to secure and will keep it wet when I check for scum on top each
day.
I liked her bit about using grape leaves or oak leaves that
contain tannin and it keeps the pickles crisp. I read if you couldn’t get the
grape or oak leaves to use about a teaspoon of black tea. That is what I used.
I had some dill from my garden to use and used 3 heads in
each batch.
I had a pickle plant in my garden; that were supposed to be
for pickles but the pickles got fat; almost like a gourd. I sliced up one for
on a salad and it tasted good. I had enough to do a half-gallon and found some
local grown pickles to do another half-gallon.
For each half gallon I used about a Tbs. of pickling spices,
about 1 Tb. dried garlic flakes, a tsp. of what I thought were mustard seeds.
Oh well; they would work being a little lemony and my pickling spice had
mustard seeds in it. I also used 3 fresh dill heads.
The two quarts of brine were enough to cover the pickles in
both jars. I added two dried red chilies in the jar of local grown pickles I
bought for a little heat. In about a week I should know if I have some good
dill pickles or not.
Marinated Veggies seasoned
Ready for overnight in the fridge
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