Sour Pickles Recipes

SOUR PICKLES RECIPE

Steps:

• Pour a quart of water into saucepan. Set it on the stove, and then turn up the heat to medium-high. Stir in the sea salt until it dissolves fully, and then allow the water to cool to room temperature.
• Trim the cucumbers of any tough stems and flower ends, and then place them in bowl. Cover them with cold water to refresh them, at least 20 minutes and up to 1 hour.
• Drain the cucumbers, and then place them into your jar. Drop in the garlic and spices, and then slide the horseradish leaf and dill into the jar. Cover the cucumbers with the saltwater brine. Place a weight over the pickles, and then seal the jar.
• Allow the pickles to ferment at room temperature until they turn from vivid green to a dull green, and smell pleasantly sour - at least 1 week and up to 2 months, depending on how sour you like them.
• Eat the pickles right away, or store them in the fridge up to 1 year.

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.

NOT-TOO-SOUR REFRIGERATOR PICKLES

Steps:

• Fit as many cucumber spears as possible into a 1-quart mason jar along with the dill, garlic, mustard, salt and sugar. Combine the vinegar with 2 cups water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Pour the hot mixture into the jar with the cucumbers (you may have some left over) and swirl gently to combine (be careful; the jar will be hot). Let cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate at least overnight and preferably 2 days. The pickles keep, refrigerated, up to 2 weeks.

BEST EVER SWEET PICKLES

Steps:

• In a large nonreactive bowl, combine cucumbers, onion and salt. Cover with crushed ice and mix well. Let stand 3 hours. Drain; rinse and drain thoroughly., In a Dutch oven, combine sugar, water, vinegars, mustard seed, celery seed and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add cucumber mixture; return to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 4-5 minutes or until heated through., Carefully ladle hot mixture into 4 hot wide-mouth 1-pint jars, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Add 3 garlic cloves and 1 bay leaf to each jar. Remove air bubbles and, if necessary, adjust headspace by adding hot pickling liquid. Wipe rims. Center lids on jars; screw on bands until fingertip tight. , Place jars into canner with simmering water, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil; process for 10 minutes. Remove jars and cool.

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.

SWEET-AND-SOUR QUICK PICKLES

Steps:

• Stuff the cucumbers and dill into a 1-quart glass or plastic jar with a tight-fitting lid.
• In another 1-quart jar, combine the vinegar, water, sugar, salt and mustard. Close the jar and shake vigorously until the sugar and salt dissolve. Pour over the cucumbers, cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours (preferably overnight) or up to 1 month.

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).

WALLY'S 1/2 SOUR PICKLES

Steps:

• MAKE SURE YOU USE A ONE GALLON JAR OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT BE TO SALTY!
• Place one garlic clove and a piece of dill in the bottom of a gallon jar.
• Cut cucumbers into quarters and place 1/2 in jar, standing upright.
• Put another garlic clove in the center of the pickles, then add remaining pickles to fill jar.
• Put another garlic clove in top of pickles.
• Add in one tablespoon of dill weed or dill seed.
• Add in 3/4 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup of the salt.
• Fill with water to cover.
• Keep refrigerated for 7 to 10 days, turning upside down every day.