Half Sour Pickles Recipes

HALF SOUR PICKLES

Steps:

• Wash cucumbers and trim off the blossom end of the cucumber.
• Stir salt and water together in a quart jar, then add cucumbers and seasonings leaving at least 2" of headspace.
• Keep produce submerged in brine with a food safe weight such as wax paper or submerged cabbage leaf.
• Cover loosely with lid (airlock not needed) and let sit in a cool dark place for 7-10 days, or until it reaches your desired sourness, then refrigerate to slow fermentation and store.
• Pickles will become more sour each day they ferment and the brine will turn cloudy.

HALF-SOUR DILL PICKLES

Steps:

• In a 2-cup measuring cup, dissolve the salt in 1 cup of hot tap water. When dissolved, add 1 cup cold tap water.
• Trim the small round scab from the blossom end of each cucumber. Tightly pack the cucumbers vertically in a quart jar. Fit the dill sprigs and garlic around the cucumbers. Sprinkle the black pepper and crushed red pepper, if using, on top.
• Add enough of the salt water to the jar to completely cover the contents, leaving about an inch of airspace at the top of the jar. If you have any brine left, save it. Cover the jar with cheesecloth or a kitchen towel secured with a rubber band, or partially screw on the lid.
• Put the jar in a cool room (about 65°F) away from direct sunlight, and let the pickles ferment for 4 days. During this time, bubbles of carbon dioxide gas will become visible inside the jar. Check the pickles daily to make sure they are submerged, and if necessary, top them off with the reserved brine. If they begin to float, weigh them down with a small heavy object, like a stone wrapped in plastic or a small glass jar filled with water. It's OK if the liquid clouds slightly. If it becomes dark or extremely cloudy, mold or fungus is growing in the jar, and the pickles should be discarded.
• After 4 days, taste a pickle. It should be crunchy, lightly sour, and salty, with an aroma of garlic and dill. If you prefer a more sour flavor, let the pickles ferment up to 3 days more, tasting daily. When you're happy with the flavor, refrigerate the pickle jar. The pickles will remain half-sours for up to 2 weeks. Within a few weeks, they will have progressed to fully fermented pickles and will keep for years in the refrigerator.

HALF-SOUR PICKLES (QUICK, SMALL-BATCH)

Steps:

• Gently scrub the cucumbers under running water to remove dirt and any particularly prominent spines on the nubs. Drain. Trim a thin slice from the blossom end and pack the cukes into a one-quart non-reactive container, such as glass or food-grade plastic. You may cut then into halves, slices, or spears if desired.
• Stir the salt and water until the salt dissolves. Add the aromatic/seasoning ingredients to the container with the cucumbers. Put the container on a plate to contain any possible dripping once fermentation begins.
• Pour in enough brine to cover the cucumbers. Push a sandwich-sized Ziploc bag into the container's aperture, fill it with the remaining brine, and seal the bag. The brine-filled bag serves to weigh down the pickles so they remain submerged and seals off the top of the jar while still allowing bubbles to escape. It is filled with brine instead of water, so any possible leakage will not dilute your solution. Cover with cheesecloth and secure it with a rubber band to keep out fruit flies or other flying little beasties you may discover are drawn to this stuff.
• After a few days, the brine may begin giving off tiny bubbles. Keep an eye on it and skim off any white foam that rises to the surface, giving the bag a rinse if necessary. The cucumbers will begin turning darker and to taste, well, brined after just two days. Let them go for a week and they should turn olive green throughout. Remove the bag, skim any new foam, close container fast, and put in the fridge.

CANNED SOUR PICKLES AND PICKLING SPICE

Steps:

• For the pickling spice, blend 3 tablespoons whole black peppercorns, 3 tablespoons of yellow mustard seeds, 4 teaspoons of allspice and 1 cinnamon stick, crumbled. Makes 1/2 cup.
• On the first day:Trim blossom ends from cucumbersand cut lengthwise intoquarters or halves. Put in a bowl;add salt (A). Cover with coolwater and mix to dissolve salt (B). Place a small plate inside bowl on top of cucumbers to keep them submerged. Let stand at cool room temperature or in refrigerator for 12 to 18 hours.
• On the second day:Prepare jars as described inGeneral Rules. Drain cucumbers,rinse, and drain again. Bringvinegar, water, and 1 teaspoon Koshersalt to a boil.
• Lift jars out of hot water one at a time, draining water. Fill with cucumbers (C). (It helps to lay jar on side and fill edges first, then center -- this keeps cucumbers from falling over.) If desired, add 2 cloves garlic and 2 or 3 sprigs dill to each jar. Sprinkle 2 teaspoon pickling spice into quart jars. (If you're going to store pickles for longer than a month, rather than adding spices directly, put them in a cheesecloth bag and simmer in pickling liquid for 5 minutes. Remove before filling jars.) Fill with boiling pickling liquid. Leave 1/2-inch headspace.
• Slide a nonmetallic spatulaor chopstick between cucumbersand jar; release air bubblesby pressing gingerly on cucumbers.Repeat 2 or 3 times.
• Wipe rim and threads of jarwith a clean, damp cloth. Removelid from hot water and place onjar. Screw band down, just untilresistance is met. As each jar isfilled, set it onto rack in boiling-watercanner. Keep canner waterat a simmer.
• After all jars are filled andplaced on rack, bring water to aboil. Lower rack into canner.Water level must cover caps onjars by 1 to 2 inches. If needed,add more boiling water.
• Put lid on canner. As soon asjars are lowered, start countingtime. Return to a boil. Processquarts 15 minutes at a gentlebut steady boil.
• Remove jars from canner and set them upright on a dry towel or rack to cool. Do not retighten bands. Let jars cool for 12 hours minimum, 24 hours maximum. After jars have cooled, check lids for a good vacuum seal by pressing on center of each. If center is pulled down and does not flex, remove band and gently try to lift lid off with your fingertips. If lid does not flex and you cannot lift it off, seal is set. Wipe lid and jar surface with a damp cloth to remove food particles and residue. Label. Store jars in a cool, dry, dark place. Pickles will continue to absorb brine over time, deepening the intensity of both flavor and color (D).

HALF SOUR PICKLES

Steps:

• Dissolve sea salt in water. grind dry ingredients. Put cucs in jars. Put garlic and dill sprig in jar. Divide ground up spices and put in jar. Pour salt water in jars. Let sit in refrig for 4 days.

POP'S HALF SOUR PICKLES

Steps:

• Scrub cucumbers under cold water.
• Pack whole tightly in jar.
• In a seperate bowl, mix water, garlic, pickling salt, and pickling spice.
• Stir well and pour over cucumbers.
• Add additional warm water, if needed, to fill the jar.
• Cover and refrigerate 4-5 days for maximum flavor.