New York Style Deli Pickles Recipes

NEW YORK STYLE DELI PICKLES

Steps:

• Layer the cucumbers and dill heads with garlic.
• Pour the remaining ingredients over all and cover with cold, fresh water, filtered if you can.
• Cover with cheesecloth.
• Weigh down the pickles with a plate and jar of water. Cover with a clean tea towel.
• Check after 72 hours, remove any scum that may have formed and wash cheesecloth, plate and jar of water and replace them.
• Check after another 72 hours and see if they are done enough for you. If so, pack into sterile jars and cover with the brine.
• Store in the refrigerator to slow the fermentation process.
• I make these in a big dough bucket and pack into gallon jars and some plastic containers to give as gifts.

KOSHER PICKLES, THE RIGHT WAY

Steps:

• Combine the salt and 1 cup boiling water in a large bowl; stir to dissolve the salt. Add a handful of ice cubes to cool the mixture, then all the remaining ingredients.
• Add cold water to cover. Use a plate slightly smaller than the diameter of the bowl and a small weight to keep the cucumbers immersed. Set aside at room temperature.
• Begin sampling the cucumbers after 4 hours if you quartered them. It will probably take 12 to 24 hours or even 48 hours for them to taste pickled enough to suit your taste.
• When they are ready, refrigerate them, still in the brine. The pickles will continue to ferment as they sit, more quickly at room temperature and more slowly in the refrigerator. They will keep well for up to a week.

KOSHER JEWISH PICKLES

Steps:

• Cut 1/16" off the ends of the cucumbers and scrub very well (leaving the blossom end on can lead to spoilage).
• Soak the cucumbers in ice water for a couple of hours.
• When cucumbers are almost done soaking, Mix the salt and water.
• Sterilize or wash your giant pickle jar (about a gallon) from the food warehouse. Make sure you have properly disposed of all the lousy pickles that use to be in it, I Recommend your compost heap or the garbage. Wash the jar or sterilize it so it no longer stinks like the vinegar they used to make there inferior pickles.
• Now it gets real easy. Pack as many of your pickles into the jar as you can. Use the rest for a salad or something. stick in all the dill (you can chop it, but it does not matter), all the garlic cloves, all the seeds, then stop, and look at your beautiful jar. If you have the grape leaves, stick them in at this time. I don't ever use them, but my buddy does.
• Pour the salt water in the jar. All the way up to the top minus an inch, or a half inch or so. If you are short water, add some.
• Tightly cover the jar with the lid that came on the giant pickle jar. Cover it tightly, as hard as you can turn, stop, then tighten again just to make sure. Stand back, and look at the beauty of what you have made.
• Place jar UPSIDE down, with a towel over it (to keep it dark), in a cool (65-58°F) place in your home. Put a plate under the jar to see if it leaks.
• The next day (24 hours later) check to see if the jar leaked. If it did, it means you didn't follow my instructions. Tighten the lid (if needed) and TURN IT UPRIGHT, cover it with the towel, and ignore it. Walk away.
• Leave in cool dark place for five days. If you want to leave them for a full week, more power to you. Both time frames will result in a great authentic Kosher pickle.
• Enjoy, then leave feedback on this recipe.

SOUR PICKLES

Steps:

• Soak cucumbers for 30 minutes in a bowl filled with ice water to loosen any dirt. Slice the blossom end off each cucumber, which is opposite the stem end. If you aren't sure which end is which, slice a little off each. Cut cucumbers into spears or chunks, if desired.
• Pack cucumbers into one or two clean quart jars. Tuck in garlic, dill, coriander and jalapeño, if using.
• Add salt to two cups boiling water. Stir until dissolved. Add two cups of ice (made with filtered water if yours is chlorinated). Stir well until the ice has melted and the brine is cool. Pour brine into jars, covering cucumbers.
• Loosely cap jars and place in a bowl or pan because the jars may leak during fermentation.
• Leave pickles on the counter to ferment. The brine will bubble lazily and become cloudy. Taste after 3 days, leaving on the counter another day or two if you want your pickles more sour, or refrigerating if they're ready. They keep a month in the refrigerator.