Sprout
Sous Chef
Cool. Thanks for the tips!
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Quick & Easy Refrigerator Pickles
- Thread starter Steve Kroll
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Dawgluver
Chef Extraordinaire
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I made these yesterday, and as Steve suggested, doubled the salt and vinegar for longer storage. I also used dill seed.
Just had to sneak a little taste today, and it was lovely! Fresh and crunchy. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
OP
OP
Steve Kroll
Wine Guy
They look great!
Dawgluver
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Last edited:
Sprout
Sous Chef
I mentioned it in another post, but wanted to say it here too in case you didn't see that one. Thanks for the recipe, Steve! I used it as a base recipe for some pickles and I can't stop eating them. I tweaked it a bit for my tastes and what I had on hand, but I couldn't have done it without your recipe to start with. Yummy!
CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
I wonder why most American recipe for pickles call for vinegar, while most Russian recipes for pickles do not call for vinegar? As the matter of fact the only vinegar dills I've ever had in Russia were store bought and most nobody ever bought them. Interesting.
Sprout
Sous Chef
Perhaps the ones in Russia are the kind that ferment slightly and make their own vinegar?
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GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
Charlie, have you posted a recipe for Russian-style pickles? It would be interesting to see the difference between that and American pickles.
I'm thinking this would be the perfect recipe to use weight for the salt.
Do you think this would work with English Cukes? I don't grow cukes and English are the only ones I can get organic.
Do you think this would work with English Cukes? I don't grow cukes and English are the only ones I can get organic.
CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
I though I have, let me dig around for it.
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
I don't see why not.
CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
Refrigerator Pickles
Cucumbers (as much as you want, just keep proportions)
Garlic, 1 whole (if cloves are big you can cut them in the half)
Dill to loosely cover the bottom (divided)
Pickling Salt 2-3 table spoons (depending on your taste, I use about 2.5)
Bay Leaves 3-4
Red hot pepper flakes about a tea spoon or less. Or whole hot peppers, like chili peppers for example, 2-4
Tap Water
If you can get hold of leaves of tart cherry, black currant, or leaves of horseradish, it would be great. Those leaves make pickles stronger/crunchier. You can add any or all of them a handful would be great.
To make sure pickles are crunchy, when they are done, you have to hold the cucumbers in the cold water for few hours prior the processing. The longer-the better, changing the water every hour or 2 hours, if possible. Lately I have been leaving cucumbers in the sink overnight. I do it right in the kitchen sink. Even adding some ice, to make sure water is cold.
I use a 1 gallon jar for pickling and storage. You can divide the recipe into smaller portions, just make sure to keep the ratio of the salt to water, everything else is really arbitrary, it will be fine.
I like small to medium pickling cucumbers. Put half of the dill and garlic, and bay leaves on the bottom. If you have, add above mention leaves. Put 1 or 2 hot peppers, or pepper flakes. Fill the jar with cucumbers. Add garlic. Cover with the rest of the dill, bay leaves, and other leaves.
Dissolve salt (make sure to use pickling salt) in the cold tap water and fill the jar all the way to the top. Tighten the lid pretty tight. Put the jar in a bowl or some other container. For next few days during the fermentation, the water will be sipping thru the top. Make sure to clean that water so you know when the fermentation stops. 3-5 days depending how sour you like them, i.e. in the store you can buy half sour or sour pickles (temperature in the room really makes a difference, the hotter it is the faster is the fermentation). After that you can put them away. I have spare fridge so I keep them in the fridge the whole winter.
As the matter of fact I finished my last jar in June. My mom just keeps them in the pantry, but the problem is they continue, albeit slowly, to ferment in the warm place so she can’t keep them for too long because they became too sour. There is a way to can them, but this is so much easier that it makes no sense to bother. I can ask my mother for her canning recipe if somebody is interested.
Cucumbers (as much as you want, just keep proportions)
Garlic, 1 whole (if cloves are big you can cut them in the half)
Dill to loosely cover the bottom (divided)
Pickling Salt 2-3 table spoons (depending on your taste, I use about 2.5)
Bay Leaves 3-4
Red hot pepper flakes about a tea spoon or less. Or whole hot peppers, like chili peppers for example, 2-4
Tap Water
If you can get hold of leaves of tart cherry, black currant, or leaves of horseradish, it would be great. Those leaves make pickles stronger/crunchier. You can add any or all of them a handful would be great.
To make sure pickles are crunchy, when they are done, you have to hold the cucumbers in the cold water for few hours prior the processing. The longer-the better, changing the water every hour or 2 hours, if possible. Lately I have been leaving cucumbers in the sink overnight. I do it right in the kitchen sink. Even adding some ice, to make sure water is cold.
I use a 1 gallon jar for pickling and storage. You can divide the recipe into smaller portions, just make sure to keep the ratio of the salt to water, everything else is really arbitrary, it will be fine.
I like small to medium pickling cucumbers. Put half of the dill and garlic, and bay leaves on the bottom. If you have, add above mention leaves. Put 1 or 2 hot peppers, or pepper flakes. Fill the jar with cucumbers. Add garlic. Cover with the rest of the dill, bay leaves, and other leaves.
Dissolve salt (make sure to use pickling salt) in the cold tap water and fill the jar all the way to the top. Tighten the lid pretty tight. Put the jar in a bowl or some other container. For next few days during the fermentation, the water will be sipping thru the top. Make sure to clean that water so you know when the fermentation stops. 3-5 days depending how sour you like them, i.e. in the store you can buy half sour or sour pickles (temperature in the room really makes a difference, the hotter it is the faster is the fermentation). After that you can put them away. I have spare fridge so I keep them in the fridge the whole winter.
As the matter of fact I finished my last jar in June. My mom just keeps them in the pantry, but the problem is they continue, albeit slowly, to ferment in the warm place so she can’t keep them for too long because they became too sour. There is a way to can them, but this is so much easier that it makes no sense to bother. I can ask my mother for her canning recipe if somebody is interested.
CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
Thanks, Charlie. Sprout was right - your method preserves the pickles with fermentation, so vinegar isn't needed.
CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
Yes, but I am still wondering why there is such difference in approach. If you look at the spices they are pretty much the same or similar, well there are so many, but it is vinegar that is big Yes or big No. There must be a reason.
OP
OP
Steve Kroll
Wine Guy
It's just two different routes to the same destination. You need acidity to make pickles. Using vinegar adds acidity up front. With fermented pickles, the acid is created through the fermentation process. With the first method, the pickle maker is in control of the acidity. With the fermented method, mother nature is in control.
My grandmother used to make both kinds (as well as sauerkraut and other fermented vegetables). There is a difference in taste. Pickles made with vinegar tend to have a brighter, more mouth-puckering flavor. Fermented pickles are more sour tasting and complex.
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Charlie, I think people got used to the pickles made in factories. It's quicker for a factory to make vinegar pickles than to wait for them to ferment naturally.
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
Steve, or anyone who has made these pickles - about how much do the cucumbers weigh? I have Asian cucumbers that are thin, like pickling cucumbers, but about a foot long. Maybe one Asian cuke would equal three pickling cukes?
Dawgluver
Chef Extraordinaire
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Not sure how much they weighed. We were given a bunch of cukes of varying sizes, I just cut them up and kept jamming them into the jars. I got 4 pints out of mine, and there was plenty of brine for all.
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
Thanks, Dawg! That's what I was thinking. I've sliced the equivalent of three cukes and cut the thinnest one into wedges. Brine is ready, time to pack the jars! 
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