Pickles
 

Has anyone every made this? A small company in the state makes this - about $6.50 for a small tall jar. They are devine and the ingredients look rather straight forward. Their's are still crisp-ish, not soggy. I found a recipe but wonder if anyone has tried to pickle asparagus, mine is usually devoured immediately-lightly steamed or sauteed! Piegirl

Piegirl,

I love asparagus. The season is winding down here so I doubt I'll be buying anymore. I've never had asparagus pickles. I will look at some reliable sources for recipes. It would be a good way to extend the harvest when you grow your own or find a good deal at the store.

Asparagus pickles are great. Have never made them myself, but if you grow a lot of them, it would probably be worth the effort.

I'm trying to remember if Costco has pickled asparagus or green beans. Seems to me it was asparagus and for a more reasonable buy than what you listed, but I haven't bought it for a while so not sure what the cost is.

air bubbles in my pickled peppers
 

About a week ago I canned some pickled peppers,making sure to get the air bubbles out before putting on the lids.Now a week later,if I rotate the jars small air bubbles float to the top.The jars are all sealed properly.What went wrong?Are they safe to eat?

Thanks Jim

Should be. Sometimes the air bubbles were from the air pockets in the peppers - especially if packed whole. You might want to try slitting them first, next time.

If they turn greyish, then I would be concerned or if they start oozing from the jars and break the seal. Or if they smell off when you open the jar too.

The peppers weren't whole the were sliced lengthwise.

[quote=jej826;109213]The peppers weren't whole the were sliced lengthwise.[/quote]
Anyone else want to chime in on this?

If you are concerned freeze them and then you won't have a problem. That is if you have room in a freezer. You can also store a few in the fridge if you eat them within a few weeks. There is usually so much vinegar that they are pretty safe for quite a while.

Duane

Thats the problem,freezers are full of peppers eggplant,beans,turnips etc....No room for any meat.LOL
So now everything else gets canned.
Thanks for the info.I also thought with all the vinegar they would be OK.

watermelon rind pickle recipes
 

Haven't done a search yet but does anyone have a good recipe for these? My grandmother's were the best but we couldn't find the recipe. They had no or little citrus, turned lightly brown from the spices. They were not a crisp pickle, nor were they overly sweet. I tried several recipes years back and they were too sweet. Thanks - piegirl

My mother made these things and she more than likely got the formula from the Kerr or Ball book.

In pickling the only thing you need to worry about is the acid content.

You can ad hot pepper or add more or less sugar as your tastes dictate.

A pinch of salt is added to stop fermentation.
this can go up or down considerably as to your taste.

If you don't like the sweetness of the pickles then just cut back on the sugar and taste the brine.

I remember many times how my mother and I would make pickles and adjust the spices to our taste as none of them were right on as to our liking.

Just experiment and you will find the flavor you want and then it will be yours from now on.
Remember a recipe of any kind is just a starting point.;)

I hope this helped as a good pickle is a beautiful thing to behold.:yes:

Worth

Try the Watermelon Recipes at The Old Farmer's Almanac: [url]http://www.almanac.com/recipes/search/results.php?keyword=watermelon[/url]

If you've never been to this site, you just gotta go. This is recipe central IMHO. And it is free.

This was the first of many recipes for watermelon rind pickles.

[URL]http://chef2chef.net/recipes/search_result.php?search=watermelon+rind[/URL]

I have a foodsaver vacuum sealer that has a canning jar attachment (they have both "regular" & "wide mouth". Please note that vacuuming on the canning lids IS NOT a replacement for processing either in a HWB or pressure canner. My point is, if I vacuum the lids on the jars before processing, it removes much more of the air in the jar and "pulls" the brine into the peppers (speaking more about whole peppers here.) After making the brine following whatever recipe you choose, I don't process my pickled peppers but just put them in jars, vacuum the lids on and store in the refrigerator. Processed peppers just get too soft. But again THEY MUST BE REFRIGERATED. Once you do them this way, you will agree that this is a much superior pickled pepper.

I don't want to steer off the topic of Jim's bubbles (I'm afraid I can't help), but I have to ask ... brokenbar, how long do your pickled peppers in the vacuumed jars keep in the fridge?


Thanks,
Bitwise

[QUOTE]brokenbar, how long do your pickled peppers in the vacuumed jars keep in the fridge?[/QUOTE]
Until we eat them all...seriously 'tho, they keep almost indefinitely. They a crunchy, just like ones you buy. I have never had any get any mold on them or cloudyness at all. And as I said, I do vacuum the lids on. I do salt fermented crock pickles the same way. Any heat processing and they are never as crunchy. It's starts like this..."Honey, we need an extra refrigerator. You can keep your beer in in it." Then it's, "You know, if we had one more frig, we could keep lots of beer and sodas cold and have room for extra food." By about the third and forth refrigerator (and yes...I have 4 refrigerators and two freezers :panic: ) There is no longer any reason to lie...he knows it's for all your canned stuff and you know it's for all your canned stuff so no further discussion necessary! Except in my case, it's mostly for HIS canned stuff

About the bubbles - even though the peppers were processed, as it sits and 'soaks' in the liquid it is still absorbing tiny amounts so it naturally gives up tiny air bubbles.

I learned that from making sauerkraut. Even though it starts out covered in liquid AND pressed firmly down, it still gives up air bubbles.

As long as you followed the correct canning procedures, I'd say it's perfectly fine to eat.

pickled peppers
 

Does anyone have a recipe and directions for pickling jalapeno peppers ?
I'm new to canning.
Jim

Hi,
This is the recipe I use for canning hot peppers. I do sliced jalapenos, red anaheims, or Hungarians with this one.

This is to make 4 pints, you can of course make large batches depending on how many peppers you have.

3 lbs. peppers - washed and cut into rings
2 cups vinegar
1 cup water(distilled is best)
2 tablespoons of sugar(you can go less if you like)
1 tablespoon canning salt(must use canning)
Cloves of garlic
Onion thinly sliced

In a 6-8 quart pot add the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt. Bring to boil. Add peppers. bring back to boil. Remove from heat.
Into washed and warm jars add a slice of onion and at least a clove of garlic, if small you can add a few. Then fill with pepper rings and liquid. Leave 1/2 inch head space. Run a plastic or wooden(no metal!) utensil around the inside of the jars to get out air bubbles. Screw caps on firmly. Process in water canner for 5 minutes.

If something doesn't make sense let me know,
Remy

My Pickle Recipe
 

Hi,
I keep getting requests here at home for my pickle recipe in fact I got emailed tonight so I figure I might as well share it here while I got it handy.

Here's the recipe for a 2 gallon crock(probably around 6lbs. of pickles.)
~soak washed whole gherkin pickles(make sure stems are gone) in salt water solution in the crock overnight(up to 24 hours.) The solution is 1/2 cup canning salt to a gallon of water. Distilled water works best. Use only canning salt. Put a plate on top of the pickles and then like a bowl of water to hold the plate down. Cover with towel, pot lid, whatever to keep anything from falling in.
The next day, drain and rinse pickles.

Pickling solution :
9 cups distilled Water
6 3/4 cups Vinegar
4-5 tablespoons Canning Salt- must use canning
1-2 tablespoons of Sugar- depends on your taste

Combine the water, vinegar, salt, sugar in a large pot. Bring to boil.

For wide mouth pint jars(for Quarts increase the quantities of course), add the following to the clean and warm jars:
Grape Leaf~ a piece a bit smaller than the circumference of the jar(if you don't have access to grape leaves, the recipe will still work.)
Onion sliced very thin ~ 1 slice
Heads of Dill~1
Hot Banana Pepper cut into 1/2 to 1 inch chunks ~ 1
Peppercorns~ 3 or more
Mustard Seed~ 1 tsp.
Bay leaf ~ 1 small or cut a big one in 1/2
Garlic cloves cut in 1/2 if big ~ 2--3 pieces

Then pack with gherkins. I save the smallest gherkins for the pint jars. I have the best luck cutting my gherkins into spears if they are big also.
Top with vinegar mix that has been boiled leaving 1/2 inch head space. Use a plastic or wooden tiny spatula (or anything like I have plastic chop sticks that work nice) to run around the inside of jars to knock out any trapped air bubbles.
Screw tops on firmly. Process in water canner, 5 minutes for pints, 10 minutes for quarts. If you don't process, put in fridge.

If anything doesn't make sense, let me know!
Remy

Remy, that is essentially the same recipe I use, but you should process for [U]10[/U] minutes in a BWB.

TomNJ

Do you want hot & sour or sweet & sour? I have a recipe for Bread & Butter jalapenos (serranos, banana, etc LOL) pickled peppers that we really enjoy - you may want to try it -

4 lbs jalapeno peppers
2 lbs onions
3 cups white vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
2 teaspoons turmeric powder
2 teaspoons celery seeds
1 teaspoon ginger powder
Directions
1. Thinly slice jalapenos and onions and cold pack into jars. Use rubber gloves for handling jalapenos.
2. Place remaining ingredients in large pan and bring to a boil.
3. Pour hot mixture into jars, over the peppers and onions, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. If you run short of the juice, top with boiling water.
4. Remove air bubbles by running a knife around the inside of the jars. Adjust caps.
5. Process 10-minutes in boiling water bath.
Yield: about 5-6 Pints.

Thank you everyone for the recipes , now i've got to wait till my peppers are ripe.
jim

What does the grape leaf do?

[quote=Blueaussi;141451]What does the grape leaf do?[/quote]

Grape leaves are purported to contain a substance that inhibits enzymes that make pickles turn soft over time. Some folks claim that they also help preserve the pickles' green coloration, too.

I haven't tried using them. I use a calcium hydroxide (pickling lime) bath.

[quote=remy;141160]Hi,


Onion sliced very thin ~ 1 slice
[/quote]

Remy,
I just have one question. Is this One slice of onion?? :?!?:
Or One Onion? If it's One Onion, any preference?? Yellow cooking type? Red? White??

And thanks for sharing this with everyone.

Blueaussie,
Yes, what Mischka said :).


Bluelacedredhead,
What I wrote is confusing, isn't it. It the whole thin section you sliced off that will lay at the bottom of the jar. Does that make sense? So a ring of rings:lol:. I always use the yellow cooking type, but you could use white.
Remy

[quote=TomNJ;141191]Remy, that is essentially the same recipe I use, but you should process for [U]10[/U] minutes in a BWB.

TomNJ[/quote]

I've been using the recipe I got in my Heinz Successful Pickling Guide(with my addition of onion) from like 1993. It is weird the whole pepper recipe in the booklet calls for 10 minutes. I'm sure you are right that the time has been upped to 10 min. though I have been doing with five for all these years and they've been fine, but anyone who wants to follow newer guidelines should go for 10 min.
Remy

One Ring of Rings. Perfect. Thanks Remy for clearing that up.

Does it matter what type of vinegar is used? i.e white or apple cider? My BIL does pickels and says only white.