Easy method for pickles?

BUCKYJR

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Anyone have a good recipe/method to make pickles w/out having to pressure cook and all that? There may not even be a way, but I was hoping you could just make the brine and just throw the cukes in...
 

Sako

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I do not know of a way without pressure cooking them... but I will say for Dill Pickles, I use the ms. wages packaged seasoning from Walmart and some "pickle firmer" (they sell it there too) and everyone goes crazy over them... I did 25 quarts this past year and this year I will probably do 50 quarts... So many people want them.
 

Sako

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Also, if you have to pressure cook them (or any time you use a pressure cooker) and you have a Turkey frier, use the burner from the turkey frier and put the pressure cooker outside on it.... this way all the heat from doing the canning is not inside the house....
 

IceMann

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BUCKYJR said:
Anyone have a good recipe/method to make pickles w/out having to pressure cook and all that? There may not even be a way, but I was hoping you could just make the brine and just throw the cukes in...

you never ever pressure cook pickles,that will make them a slimy,mushy mess..The brine will keep them cured and safe from spoilage.Ialways cold pack mine with a claussin recipe I have used for years../I make them by the quart.
here is what I do..per quart.

Fill the jar with cukes, add 1 teaspoon salt ,1 teaspoon dill seed.1 teaspoon dill weed,1/2 teaspoon pickling spice,garlic if you like,fill jar 1/3rd with,boiling white vinegar, fill rest of the way with boiling water,cap and let sit 1 week, then they are ready...these are the deli crisp kind..I hate a mushy pickle..
 

Hogbear

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I'm with Iceman, never heard of anybody using a pressure cooker to make pickles.

I use this to make 8 jars:

4 cups white vinegar
12 cups water
2/3 cup pickling salt (doesn't have idodine so it won't darken)
16 cloves garlic
8 sprigs dill weed
8 heads dill weed
jalapenos and crushed red pepper to taste

Soak the cucumbers in icewater in sink 2 hours, makes them crispy
boil water, vinegar, and salt mixture
load jar with cucumbers, dill, garlic and jalapenos and then fill rest of space with hot brine and seal it
Process the sealed jars in a big pot of boiling water for 15 minutes
Let cool and store 8 weeks before enjoying them.
 

Sako

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That is what i get for answering while I was at work... you are right. hot water bath not pressure cooking... (still use the bressure cooker without the lid on :) )

however, you can put a 1/8 of a teaspoon of Calcium Chloride into each jar and the pickles will be very crisp.. this will elinate the need to presoak and will elimate the need for lime... Ball sells containers of this tha is called Pickle Crisp granuals...
 

BUCKYJR

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Yes...great info guys...thanks! I have never canned anything so how do you "seal" the jar? Also, could I use a premixed recipe like what was mentioned at Walmart? I really don't know what Dill seed and Dill weed is...lol I just want to make it worth it so my family loves the pickles. Ive experimented with other recipes and have had them love some and hate some so I want to be sure before I put all this work into pickles. Don't want to end up with Kerosine Cukes like Aunt Bee! haha
 
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Anonymous

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That Ms. Wages is the Best tasting and easiest pickles I have ever made. I brought that stuff home a my grandma like to went thru the roof, she said you can't make pickles with that stuff and if you do they will be awful. We gave it a try and that is all she uses now, said they should have came out with that stuff a long time ago, plus it is cheaper.
 

BUCKYJR

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tractorlvr said:
That Ms. Wages is the Best tasting and easiest pickles I have ever made. I brought that stuff home a my grandma like to went thru the roof, she said you can't make pickles with that stuff and if you do they will be awful. We gave it a try and that is all she uses now, said they should have came out with that stuff a long time ago, plus it is cheaper.

Where can you get it?
 

catman529

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The old timers have said (from what I have read online) that they never used to even do a water bath. Now a water bath is highly recommended by the FDA to remove risk of botulism, but considering the acidity of the brine and the fact that it's already near boiling when you seal the jar, you are probably safe without even a water bath. But don't take my words for it, I'm sure there has been that one incidence where someone got sick from pickles that weren't put in a water bath...

For the fridge, obviously no bath is needed, just pour the brine over and let it sit in the fridge for a few days. Last year I canned a bunch of pickles from homegrown cukes and there's still a jar left over now. A water bath for 10 min is all you need to be on the "safe" side. I don't even have a pressure cooker.
 

Sako

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BUCKYJR said:
tractorlvr said:
That Ms. Wages is the Best tasting and easiest pickles I have ever made. I brought that stuff home a my grandma like to went thru the roof, she said you can't make pickles with that stuff and if you do they will be awful. We gave it a try and that is all she uses now, said they should have came out with that stuff a long time ago, plus it is cheaper.

Where can you get it?

I have bought it at wal-mart and at Food City (they may not have it in yet...)... btw.. the salsa mix they have is awesome as well.
 

TX300mag

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catman529 said:
The old timers have said (from what I have read online) that they never used to even do a water bath. Now a water bath is highly recommended by the FDA to remove risk of botulism, but considering the acidity of the brine and the fact that it's already near boiling when you seal the jar, you are probably safe without even a water bath. But don't take my words for it, I'm sure there has been that one incidence where someone got sick from pickles that weren't put in a water bath...

For the fridge, obviously no bath is needed, just pour the brine over and let it sit in the fridge for a few days. Last year I canned a bunch of pickles from homegrown cukes and there's still a jar left over now. A water bath for 10 min is all you need to be on the "safe" side. I don't even have a pressure cooker.

X2

Refrigerator pickles is the way to go if you plan on eating them within a few weeks. No hot water bath needed.
 

TX300mag

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Sako said:
BUCKYJR said:
tractorlvr said:
That Ms. Wages is the Best tasting and easiest pickles I have ever made. I brought that stuff home a my grandma like to went thru the roof, she said you can't make pickles with that stuff and if you do they will be awful. We gave it a try and that is all she uses now, said they should have came out with that stuff a long time ago, plus it is cheaper.

Where can you get it?

I have bought it at wal-mart and at Food City (they may not have it in yet...)... btw.. the salsa mix they have is awesome as well.

You got that right Sako! Great salsa. :cool:
 

IceMann

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I dont use the mrs wages,or the balls pikle spices because it has a high amount of Alum in it..Alum is bad for the body..Unless They have taken it out and have a new formula,it was almost half alum power..
 

Poor redneck

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Grandma allways called them salt water pickles. It is just vinegar, water & pickling salt. I can post the amounts when I get home. I suppose my family been doing it like this for a century or better.
 
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