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

FAQs

What is the secret to crisp dill pickles? ›

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!

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.

The best way to keep your pickles crisp is by taking an extra moment to remove the blossom from the end of the cucumber. By adding this extra cut, you have a crisper pickle. Other ways to ensure a crisp pickle is by adding grape leaves to your jar. I tend to cut off both ends of the cucumber as I quickly process them.

Crispness can also be lost if cucumbers are stored longer than 24 hours in the refrigerator from harvest to pickling. Thoroughly wash each cucumber, especially around the stem area, where soil can be trapped. Any remaining soil may be a source of bacteria and can cause a soft pickle.

Add tannins. Include a couple grape leaves, horseradish leaves, oak leaves, blackberry leaves, or black tea leaves in each jar. The natural tannins found in these leaves help make pickles crunchy. Keep the cucumbers cold before making pickles by storing them in the refrigerator.

The taste of your pickled vegetables can be greatly changed by toasting spices. This is because toasting spices cause the natural oils of a spice to be released, which in turn amplifies the flavors.

Using apple cider vinegar to make homemade dill pickles

Many recipes online call for using white vinegar and when I first started out in my homemade dill pickle making journey I did use white vinegar as well. White vinegar works just fine and you can use that in this recipe instead of ACV.

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.

No, there are other methods for pickling, including quick pickling and refrigerator pickling. But this pickling method does call for boiling the brine. This process helps bloom the flavors of the ingredients and help speed up the pickling process when it's added to the fresh vegetables or fruit.

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.

How to make cucumbers extra crunchy? ›

Just place the slices or chunks in a colander over a bowl or sink. Sprinkle them with a couple of pinches of salt, toss to coat, and let them rest for about 30 minutes. Pat them dry with a paper towel and proceed with the recipe.

This salt treatment draws water out of the cucumbers and flavors them, so it's critically important. After layering or mixing in plenty of sea salt, I cover the salted cukes with ice cubes and a tea towel and forget about them for a few hours.

Olive all use the term on their websites, in advertisem*nts, and in the product descriptions of their pickle varieties. When asked why the word isn't on the front of the jars, all three companies provided nearly the same answer: They feel the word “pickle” isn't necessary on pickles packaged in clear glass containers.

When fermenting vegetables, it is common to notice a white layer forming on top of the liquid after a few days. Often this white film is mistaken for mold, and the entire ferment is discarded. However, the white film is usually a type of yeast known as kahm yeast.

Alum will increase firmness of fermented pickles when used at levels up to ¼ teaspoon per pint, but greater amounts will decrease firmness.

If good quality ingredients are used and up-to-date methods are followed, firming agents are not needed. Alum has little crispness affect on quick-process pickles. Alum will increase firmness of fermented pickles when used at levels up to ¼ teaspoon per pint, but greater amounts will decrease firmness.

Metro Deli^® Kosher Dill Pickle Chips are manufactured, shipped and preserved cold to deliver the crispiest pickle crunch.

Calcium chloride is a salt used to preserve the texture of food. It is often used in canning, but it can also be used in fermentation! For example, it is a powerful weapon for keeping pickles crunchy, whether they are canned or fermented.

Add Tannins

One of the secrets to getting crunchy pickles is to add leaves, such as grape, oak, raspberry, blackberry, or cherry leaves that have tannins in them. You might be thinking, But how do I know which leaves have tannins?