Earlier this year, I attempted to follow my great grandmother’s pickle recipe. I had disappointing results despite the fact that we have had better ones made by her. The recipe called for thin cucumbers, one teaspoon of coarse kosher salt, one clove of fresh garlic, a long stem of dill, and pickling spices. We added the pickles into a wide mouth pickling jar, then we added the salt, garlic, dill, and a teaspoon of pickling spices. We stored them for two or three weeks in the fridge.
They ended up with a surprising, and quite unfortunate, lack of flavor. They were, however, quite salty, especially when compared to the more common vinegar flavors in sour pickles. Any advice to improve these pickles would be incredibly helpful to improve this recipe.
3 Comments
Karen Harris · December 3, 2019 at 1:53 am
Without vinegar? Huh…
Zaza · December 3, 2019 at 12:59 pm
I have the same recipe that she gave you with the additional red pepper comment. When we get our new dills at kosher delis, they are not vinegar pickles. Could be that the style of the kosher new dill is too close to cucumber for you. The brine and timing are a separate issue. They shouldn’t be too salty.
Zaza · December 3, 2019 at 2:00 am
Dear Pickle Lover,
I think the problem may be that the recipe doesn’t specify the number or amount of cucumbers. It seems some experimenting is necessary to figure that out. She does not say that she prefers thin cucumbers in my copy of the recipe. It’s possible that thicker ones may not absorb as much salt. Also, in my copy she comments that she finds that red pepper makes the pickles too spicy after a while. Uncle Sol used to add red pepper to his.
It is also possible that you have become a very sophisticated pickle connoisseur and that the family’s fond recollection of the pickles of old isn’t up to your high expectations.
Keep experimenting!
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