Ya gotta have pickles with barbecue, right ?

[Lynn Dollar]

This year, I started a pickle project. I grew pickling cucumbers in my garden.

First, I built a trellis from 6 X 8 " cattle panel " I got at Tractor Supply. And I hung it between two T-posts.

I have five varieties of picklng cucumber. I started a couple from plants I bought at a local nursery. They were labeled " Bush Picklel " cucumber. And then I planted four varieties of seed ............ National Pickle, Picklebush, Bushy, and Sumpter.

And here they are a month later and I'm hoping they survive this severe heat wave that's hanging over this part of the country, you can see my tomato plants in the background have pretty much had it.



Sooo, I found a recipe for bread and butter pickles at Tuffy Stone's site

Bread and Butter Pickles

And here's 3 pounds and 2 oz of sliced pickling cucumber



Next part of the recipe, is to soak the cucumber in pickling fluid. Letting it cool to room temp from about 120* . I gotta digital probe monitoring the temp. During this period, the slices softened a lot



And the final product, four 24oz pickle jars of home grown pickle .

Next batch will be dill pickles .

 

[Mike - LA]

Looks awesome and I see the Mt Olive lids! I eat a jar of the Mt Olive baby koshers in sea salt every three days. Yes every three days a jar. I have eat pickles at every supper meal for 42 years and not just one pickle. While a kid at home my parents wouldn’t let me eat pickles that heartily but I opened up when I married and left home. Better make more.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

Looks awesome and I see the Mt Olive lids! I eat a jar of the Mt Olive baby koshers in sea salt every three days. Yes every three days a jar. I have eat pickles at every supper meal for 42 years and not just one pickle. While a kid at home my parents wouldn’t let me eat pickles that heartily but I opened up when I married and left home. Better make more.

Sounds like you need to be growing some pickling cucumber. Its really easy .

 

[TimA]

That’s the way to do it, homegrown and homemade. Haven’t tried myself yet

 

[Fred Wileyi]

I make Old South sweet pickles. Takes 3 or 4 days. Canned in Mason jars with a water bath canner.

 

[Chris Allingham]

Let's include the Tuffy Stone recipe in case that page ever goes down.

Bread and Butter Refrigerator Pickles
Yields 6 (12-ounce) jars

Perfect addition to potato salad, relishes or a garnish for sandwiches.

What you need:
Pickling Liquid:
½ cup kosher salt
1 quart apple cider vinegar
1 quart sugar
1 teaspoon celery seeds
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon whole white peppercorns

Pickles:
3 pounds pickling cucumbers, sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds
1 large white onion, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced

What to do:
First make the pickling liquid: In a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat, add the salt, vinegar, sugar, celery seeds, mustard seeds, ground ginger, turmeric, and white peppercorns and stir until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring just to a boil, then remove the pot from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
Place the cucumber rounds and onion slices in a large stockpot. Pour the warm pickling liquid over the cucumbers, then set the stockpot aside, uncovered, to cool to room temperature. You may need to weigh the cucumber slices down with a plate during the cooling process.
Distribute the cucumbers, onions, and pickling liquid between 6 jars (or a large, 3-quart lidded container), cover tightly, and refrigerate. These pickles will keep, refrigerated, for 3 months.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

I make Old South sweet pickles. Takes 3 or 4 days. Canned in Mason jars with a water bath canner.

I want to try that, cuz these are only good for a few months.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

Let's include the Tuffy Stone recipe in case that page ever goes down.

Bread and Butter Refrigerator Pickles
Yields 6 (12-ounce) jars

Perfect addition to potato salad, relishes or a garnish for sandwiches.

What you need:
Pickling Liquid:
½ cup kosher salt
1 quart apple cider vinegar
1 quart sugar
1 teaspoon celery seeds
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon whole white peppercorns

Pickles:
3 pounds pickling cucumbers, sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds
1 large white onion, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced

What to do:
First make the pickling liquid: In a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat, add the salt, vinegar, sugar, celery seeds, mustard seeds, ground ginger, turmeric, and white peppercorns and stir until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring just to a boil, then remove the pot from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
Place the cucumber rounds and onion slices in a large stockpot. Pour the warm pickling liquid over the cucumbers, then set the stockpot aside, uncovered, to cool to room temperature. You may need to weigh the cucumber slices down with a plate during the cooling process.
Distribute the cucumbers, onions, and pickling liquid between 6 jars (or a large, 3-quart lidded container), cover tightly, and refrigerate. These pickles will keep, refrigerated, for 3 months.

That's a good idea, I did not think about it.

 

[Brenda T]

Those look good.
I've made icebox pickles a few times, but have never grown the cukes.

The last time, I couldn't find any farmers or stands with the right kind of cucumbers. I had read that you shouldn't
use store bought because they have some kind of wax on them. But I found the perfect size minis at Sams (I was making spears).
I just scrubbed them real good, and we thought they turned out just fine.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

Those look good.
I've made icebox pickles a few times, but have never grown the cukes.

The last time, I couldn't find any farmers or stands with the right kind of cucumbers. I had read that you shouldn't
use store bought because they have some kind of wax on them. But I found the perfect size minis at Sams (I was making spears).
I just scrubbed them real good, and we thought they turned out just fine.

This is my first year to grow cucumber. I had a small corner of the garden that I could use. Its been really easy and if the weather cooperates I should have more than I can deal with. Almost all of the 3 pounds I used for this batch, came from 2 plants I got at Marcum's nursery. The other plants that I started from seed, are just now starting to put on fruit. They're weeks behind. And even if the weather does not cooperate, I may plant them in a fall garden.

I got a late start due to originally planting " slicer " cucumber. Wrong variety, I needed pickling cucumber , which I'm harvesting when they're 4 to 5 " long. So I had to start over in late May.

All it takes is about a 4 X 8 ft plot that gets full sun. They can be grown without a trellis. A 4 X 8 plot would support three plants and Im finding that would produce a large number. Using the trellis, they can be planted one foot apart , which means up to 8 plants.

I planted five varieties just to compare and see which I liked best. Its looking now, that the plants from Marcum will be the best producer. But long time left yet.

I'm pretty anxious to taste these bread and butter pickles. But Tuffy Stone has not led me wrong yet.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

Tried the pickles at lunch today. Wanted to let them sit in the fridge over night before tasting. And I like em. Better than the Vlasic bread and butter I've been buying at the store. They're not as sweet. And I think the onion adds some flavor.

 

[ChuckO]

That's awesome. Awhile back my son pickled some peppers and they were really good. Whenever I'm at a fast-food joint (not all that often) if it's a gal taking my order I always say "hold my pickle please." So far, only one has gotten it, and she gave me a side-eye smile

 

[Brenda T]

Not to derail your thread Lynn, but have you tried pickled onions? They are very good and so easy to make.
A few weeks ago I made pickled red onions and pickled radishes for a Taco dinner. The reception for the radishes was Meh...
but the onions were popular.
I also made pickled peaches. They were supposed to be unopened for at least 2 weeks. I tested after one week and WOW it was
like pure vinegar! I need to check them again and decide if I didn't give them enough time or if I did something wrong.
I had thought they might be good in chicken tacos.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

Pickled red onions are on the agenda. Don't know when I'll get around to them, however.