Comments on: The Great Pickling Tragedy of 2009

By: Lucy

Lucy — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:00:42 +0000

Just found this post and had to say that pickles are always better after they have stood for a few months.

I take the ‘raw’ cukes -either sliced or whole- and layer them with course salt (maybe kosher?)in a LARGE bowl overnight. The salt helps draw the liquid out and make crispy pickles! The next day, just rinse rinse rinse before you start to pack them into jars.

Don’t give up!!

By: Jill

Jill — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:04:48 +0000

not sure how I a came upon your pickle disaster….through other blogs I believe! 14 years ago I had the same issue….since then no disaster. a couple of hints….use the packaged pickling products I will find mine and let you know. and then only process them for 3 minutes….just long enough to seal the lids! I will send you my recipe!

By: KristifromKs

KristifromKs — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:17:27 +0000

BTW- I did let my pickles “ferment” for 8 weeks actually before we tried them. They were still putrid and limp. I used pickling cukes too. I am afraid not to water bath them because of all the bad things that can get into that jar, so now what?

By: KristifromKs

KristifromKs — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:15:00 +0000

Rechelle- came to you by way of your sister’s blog. I am so glad to hear about your pickle debacle, because if you just substitute 2008 for your 2009- it could’ve been my exact story. I too used the Ball’s canning book recipe for hot packed dill pickles, and mine too were completely inedible. If you find out why- will you please let me know. I haven’t gotten enough nerve to try again, but I really want to. Maybe it’s Ball that’s got it all wrong. That’s it- it’s not US, it’s Ball. In that case let me know if you get a really successful recipe-will ya? :)

By: kathleen

kathleen — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:46:51 +0000

Same thing happened to me when my son and I made pickles several years ago, I have never attempted it since. I see a lot of great suggestions above, I believe the answer is do not boil, makes sense doens’t it, its actually cooking the darn things after all if you do that.

By: kelsie

kelsie — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:54:24 +0000

My father in law makes dill pickles and sweet pickles. If you are ever interested in trying his let me know. The dill are very easy but the sweet takes a little more time.

By: dina

dina — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:02:33 +0000

It was the boiling water bath. Seriously. The new Ball book kinda sucks in some regards because it’s very politically correct. My question to “them” being: So hundreds of years of our ancestors did it without the boiling water bath and did just fine, but were wrong?

Sometimes – the way they did stuff 100 years ago was superior.

Case in point with pickling. You’ve got some great tips here in your comments. I’d definitely chalk this one up to lesson learned and give it another go. Oh, and I second the other poster’s feeling that you had the wrong variety for pickling perhaps… they just didn’t look like picklers…

Good luck!

By: mavis

mavis — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:01:44 +0000

Did you know that you are suppose to let dill pickles “Ferment” in the jars about 6 weeks before opening (eating) them? I’m sure that’s why they taste like crap.

By: jennie

jennie — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:05:18 +0000

I too thought of Aunt Bea’s “Kerosene Cucumbers” from the Andy Griffin Show. Sorry, I hate it when so much work is for naught! Don’t let the pickles keep you down – Fight the Power!!! Show ‘em who’s boss – make another batch. :)

By: A Magical Childhood

A Magical Childhood — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:22:30 +0000

I was loving the sounds of that jalepeno recipe until I saw that it involved bowels. That’s just all kinds of wrong. ;)

I’ve never made pickles but my husband makes refrigerator pickles. The pickled onions in them are the best part. They’re sweet, sour, crunchy and delish!

This is probably a stupid question, but are you sure all the salt and vinegar won’t mess up the compost? We dumped out the salty ice water from making ice cream in a bag on the front lawn last summer and it killed the grass in that spot for the rest of the summer. My husband asked if I hadn’t ever heard of salting the earth. Oops.

Nice tutorial! Sorry it was sort of for nothing, but I learned a ton from the comments! :)

By: rosie_kate

rosie_kate — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:50:20 +0000

There are just so many variables and tricks for these sort of things… everyone else has already given the good advice.

But at least these things make good blog fodder!

By: DirtyKSmama - Nikki

DirtyKSmama - Nikki — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 04:02:58 +0000

Can’t help you on the pickles – I know nothing there (yet!)

But I love the Pickleball shirt! Whose idea was that? Very clever.

At least you have a story to tell from this experience. ;)

By: Gladys

Gladys — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:17:37 +0000

This same thing happened last year to Tadpole.

By: MyRich

MyRich — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:16:42 +0000

A previous commenter mentioned “dilly green beans” which I am assuming are green bean pickles…*drool* I have foundered myself on those more times than I care to admit. As for the pickles: My aunt makes some of the most fabulous pickles of all time, crisp and perfect. NO ONE can get her recipe to turn out the way she does. We have even gone so far as to get water from her well to make our pickles. Nothing works. They are good, but they are not HERS. Don’t let your first try get you down, pickles are just picky. :D

By: Lola-Dawn

Lola-Dawn — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:22:38 +0000

Nothing more frustrating! My Grams used to swear by the grape leaf thing too. She also warned against making pickles during “that time of the month” as the vegetables would go soft or spoil. (Since I was usually preggers at pickle making season, that wasn’t usually a problem.) We never opened a jar of pickles until my Dad’s birthday mid November. Maybe that’s where you went wrong … they needed to PICKLE for a few months??? I never cooked my pickles. I poured boiling hot brine over them, put hot lids on quick, turned the jars upside down, and covered up the upside down jars with a wool blanket overnight. The next day, I took the blanket off, turned the jars right side up, tested lids for seal, and put them away in the cellar until November. I know every expert out there says you gotta cook pickles, but my pickles got eaten every winter, and no one suffered any ill effects. Good luck next time!