Garlic Dill Pickles Recipe - Weekend at the Cottage (2024)

FAQs

What is the best vinegar to use for dill pickles? ›

Most pickle recipes call for distilled white vinegar. This is the clear, colorless vinegar made by fermenting grains. It has a mellow aroma, tart acid flavor and does not affect the color of light-colored vegetables or fruits.

Because we're a cultured lot here at Sweet Genie we were surprised pickles were included in Kosher dietary laws. Well, we were right, it turns out they're not! A "Kosher" pickle in the US just means it has garlic added to the brine.

Begin sampling the cucumbers after 4 hours if you've quartered them, 8 hours if you've halved them. In either case, it will probably take from 12 to 24 or even 48 hours for them to taste pickled enough to suit your taste.

For a quick and easy way to help ensure crisp pickles: soak cucumbers in ice water for 4 to 5 hours before pickling. This is a safer method for making crisp pickles. Using lime, or calcium hydroxide, in solution for soaking cucumbers changes the amount of acid in the cucumber tissue.

Because apple cider vinegar is made from apples rather than barley, corn rice or wine, it gives pickles a mellower taste. Using a white distilled vinegar, for example, will create a harsher flavour. But as well as being gentler on your palate, using apple cider vinegar also adds health benefits to pickles.

Cooking uses: Apple cider vinegar and white vinegar are both popular ingredient choices for salad dressings, vinaigrettes, marinades, or seasonings for veggies like beets. White vinegar is clearer and more acidic, making it a better choice for pickling vegetables.

Kosher pickles are made according to Jewish dietary laws, while regular pickles may be made using any ingredients and processing methods. Kosher pickles are typically made with a salt brine and flavored with garlic and dill, while regular pickles may be pickled with vinegar and flavored with sugar and other spices.

Dill pickles are the most popular type of pickle. They are, quite simply, brined cucumbers flavored heavily with dill. And pickle recipes for dill vary: Some include garlic, pickling spice or even spicy peppers. All, though, rely upon dill whether fresh, dried or in seed form.

While the Americans pickle the Kirby cucumber, a very thick variety with rough skin, the Israelis use Middle Eastern cucumbers, which are thin, smooth skinned, and the smaller they are the better. The Israelis also use more salt in their brine. For both types, now is a good time to pickle.

Soaking cucumbers in ice water for four to five hours prior to pickling is a safer method for making crisp pickles. Another safe option for firming pickles is Pickle Crisp®),a product containing calcium chloride; use according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Should I soak my cucumbers in salt water before pickling? ›

Soaking is to rehydrate the cucumbers in case they have softened at all from loss of water. This is more likely to have happened with purchased cukes. Home grown cukes should be crisp without soaking if they are picked in the cool of the morning on the day they will be used.

Re-pickles

Leftover pickle juice is usually full of flavour, and includes all the flavourings that went into creating the original jar. The recycled pickle brine provides an opportunity to save vegetable odds and ends for up to a week, crisping them up and giving them a new lease of life.

Add a Source of Tannin

Tannins work against softening enzymes and help keep pickles crunchier. They can be found in various sources, such as grape leaves, oak leaves, raspberry leaves, black tea, etc. Add some directly to your jars!

There are two big reasons to boil the water in this scenario: Hot water dissolves salt, sugar and other things better than cold water. Sterilization. We sometimes want to make sure that there is nothing alive that shouldn't be.

I have used an old German dill pickle receipe forever that doesn't use a water bath. I make brine and boil, pour over prepared jars, put on heated lids and leave them to seal on their own. These are yummy and SO crisp (because of no water bath).

“Pickling vinegar” is a term that is usually used for vinegar PLUS spices and flavorings that are ready for use to pickle a vegetable. White vinegar is a component of pickling vinegar, as is salt, peppercorns, bay leaves, etc. Pickling vinegar is more acidic than regular vinegar.

Use Calcium Chloride

Calcium chloride (CaCl2), sometimes known as “pickle crisp”, is a type of salt that helps preserve the crunchiness of food.

Distilled white vinegar is the most commonly used, because it has a clean, crisp flavor that retains the produce's original taste and color best. Apple cider vinegar lends a milder, sweeter flavor if you don't mind the darker color. White wine, red wine and champagne vinegar all are great to use with pickling.