My crock pickles' 3 week fermentation process came to an end 2 weekends ago.
Once crock pickles are done, you have 2 options: you can either eat them straight out of the crock, after a quick rinse and store them in the fridge, or you can prepare them for long term refrigeration by canning them. I wanted to store mine in JARS, so I could potentially give them away as gifts, so I was prepared to go the few extra steps to can them.
I used tongs and grabbed each pickle and set them aside in a colander for rinsing. Then I took the brine left in the crock and strained it through a cheese cloth. Be careful not to set your cheesecloth on FIRE like I did (on a low burning stove eye that was on so I could sterilize my jars). The brine was light green and somewhat milky in appearance but from all my reading I knew that a cloudy appearance was to be expected and that if you find that troublesome you can make a new brine, bring that to a boil and use that instead. I wasn't concerned about appearances, just taste...and I tasted my pickles and the brine...and wasn't thrilled with the results.
I brought the brine to a boil anyway and was GOING to pour it over my hot sterilized jars, packed with the rinsed pickles, fresh dill and garlic, but it just didn't seem RIGHT. It was like the boiling had intensified whatever was wrong...and the cloudiness of the brine now looked like Mississippi pond scum...I decided I should use a new batch of brine. I already had a full quart jar of brine left over from another pickling venture, so I brought that to a boil and finally poured it over my pickles.
After letting the pickles come to room temperature I put them in the fridge, hoping the vinegar and the cool would help them firm up a little. They were already really salty and pretty mushy. I wasn't holding out much hope for them but I never give up on a pickle!
Well, that is until now...these are just not good. They look great in their jar and I could still give them as gifts...to people like Dick Cheney.
So the bad news is my first crock pickles failed, but the good news is, I can always try again. If anyone has any tips for me please let me know!
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11 comments:
oh no! Nothing worse than mushy pickles...there's a lesson to be learned here...keep trying! I'm anxious to hear how it goes.
Thanks...I followed the recipe so all I can figure is that they need to be left in a spot cooler and darker next time. I did manage to make some GOOD pickles this summer...more to come on the blog!
Looks like a bacterial contamination to me - more acid next time maybe?
(found your blog from the canvolution people! hi!)
Thanks for the tip Sara! Next time I'll try more vinegar and keep it in a shadier spot. It rained every day in June and was pretty cool in July while they were fermenting but next time I'll be extra careful and choose a better spot for the crock.
Pickling via natural fermentation can be tricky - there's a great book called Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz that has all kinds of good tips on the subject. He recommends you taste the pickles daily to monitor their progress. Good luck!
Thanks for the book rec Soup and Sond... I will check it out for sure... I have no problem with a daily pickle check! I just didn't do it this time because I didn't want to "disturb" the brine, but I'm learning more every day!
Sorry to hear about your loss. That was a fine looking mess o' pickles. I hope the next batch doesn't go out catting on you like this one did.
So I decided to try making some crock pickles (even after your mishap!) and they turned out great - dont be discouraged!
The recipe came from The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich and was for a quart batch of half sours. I dont think it had any vinegar, just salt spices and about a week. You might give it a go.
Its a magical process!
Thanks for the encouragment Jack. I have that book and hope to give crock pickles another chance now that I'm all moved in to my new apartment!
I just grabbed a recipe from the the daughter of a woman who when I was a teen, was in her 80s and still made crock pickles every year. They're amazingly sweet and delicious, and I just had to have the recipe. The attempt begins tonight! I'll let you know in 8 (yes, her recipe calls for EIGHT) weeks!
Kathy please let us know how they turn out...and good luck waiting that long! Does the daughter continue her mom's pickle tradition as well?
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