The Good News is that even though my crock pickles failed, my next batch of pickles did NOT. I made these pickles on July 13 and my recipe instructed to let them sit for 3 weeks, but after tasting my crock pickles, I got nervous and opened one jar a week early to make sure they were OK before I made a dozen more jars of shitty pickles. Pardon my French.
These pickles turned out sooo pretty. Aren't they gorgeous? I couldn't stop staring at them and fondling the jars for a week after I made them and they were made in a state of pure bliss in my crappy 'lil Brooklyn kitchen and I'm pretty sure you can taste the love. I couldn't be prouder of my first batch of Brooklyn Pickles!
I started with about 12 pounds of Kirby cucumbers, washed and dried. To each wide mouth jar (easier for packing the pickles IN and yanking one OUT when eating) I added a sprinkle of whole mustard seeds, a couple of cloves of garlic, a flowering dill head (just because they had them at the farmers market),a few sprigs of fresh dill and at least one habenero pepper(or "goat"pepper, thank you YoYo Kid).
For the brine I combined 1 1/2 quarts of vinegar, 2 quarts of water and 1 1/4 cups pickling salt (I used sea salt). I had to make the brine twice to fill up all the packed jars I had, which turned out to be 9. I stored the left over brine in a quart jar and kept it in the fridge until I needed it for another project.
Once the brine was brought to a boil I filled each jar to cover all the cucumbers, leaving about a 1/4 inch of head space and sealed each jar. I did not process these in a boiling water bath. I just let them cool over night and then stored the jars in my pantry.I was really pleased with my results. They are almost a Pickle Freak-bootleg version of McClure's Pickles. They have a big vinegar taste and nice heat and are really pretty crunchy. My only complaint is they are a tad too salty for me and not "dilly" enough, so my next batch will be tweaked accordingly.
There's still time to win your own Home Canning Kit so leave a comment on the post BELOW before August 12. And let me know on this post how your pickling projects have turned out this summer. I'm still looking for that perfect water, vinegar and salt ratio!
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5 comments:
Katy - I'm so PLEASED that I helped contribute to your capsaicin related vernacular. These sound tasty..
Let's try this again. I love your site. I made Refrigerator Pickles last week using this recipe. Here is a photo of the pickles.
What's with the vinegar in the brine?
My best sours/half-sours have been a pure water/salt/spice brine, left in a cool, dark place for 1-2 weeks. I made pickled mixed veg with water/salt/tarragon/shallots that turned out very nice.
I'm so happy to see that your second batch (made on my birthday.) I'm still excited to try and win the pickling kit! I'm so excited for the results on Saturday.
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