I’m not a huge fan of store-bought pickles…anything that is processed tends to taste, well…processed. Once in a while I run across an honest to goodness, USDA-NOT approved fermented dill pickle, and I really enjoy them…but in this world of lawyers, guns, and money, not following the USDA’s guidelines can get you into a …*cough* pickle.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that the USDA fully intended to do right by the general population initially…but these are now the same folks that say that raw milk is a no-no, but Mountain Dew is A-OK. WTF?

Sorry, I’m starting to stray from the topic, pickles.

We’ve made a lot of pickles over the last few years, at least considering the fact that we rarely grow cucumbers. Every time I try, the pickleworms eat them up. It’s very frustrating. So we end up buying our cucumbers for making pickles, or simply pickle something we can grow, like green papaya, green mango, or what seems to be everyone’s favorite, green tomatoes, particularly the tiny little Everglades variety.

We were initially inspired (before my FloridaHillbilly days) by a episode of Alton Brown’s “Good Eats”. He basically agrees that commercial pickles are not as crunchy or tasty as fermented ones…and walks you through the entire process for making honest to goodness fermented dill pickles. If you are a true pickle fan, this is worth watching:

Since we were planning a road trip for last weekend, I wanted some snacky food for the ride. So I made some fridge pickles early last week. My directions CLEARLY state to wait at LEAST two days, but I couldn’t resist…I started eating them after a day….fantastic! Good thing I made 6 quarts!

A quick note of the cucumbers used. We picked up two varieties, the smaller “pickling” cucumbers, and larger slicing ones. Not sure if it is coincidence or not, but every time we use larger cucumbers, they turn out softer than the smaller varieties do. Therefore, I am suggesting that you try to find the smaller pickling cucumbers for a better end result.

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

Ingredients:

Cucumbers, optionally cut into halves or spears. LOTS of them, you WILL eat them, promise!

For the brine:

3 cups water
6 tbsp. white vinegar
2-3 tbsp. kosher salt I prefer 3, the wife prefers 2. Go figure.

Base flavors:
minced garlic
fresh dill

Additional flavors:
Crushed Red Pepper flakes
Allspice
Mustard Seeds
Black Peppercorns

Directions:

Combine all brine ingredients, being sure to dissolve the salt.

Put some fresh dill in the bottom of each jar. Pack jar with cucumber spears. 

Layer with more fresh dill and some minced garlic on top. 
This is the base recipe. I like to add in the additional flavors, but I’m a rebel.

Pour brine into the jar until it is full and pickles are completely submerged. 
Put the lid on and allow to refrigerate at least 2 days before eating.

And I’m going to suggest making at least two jars the first time.

Trust me on this one.

How long do they last?? Like the number of licks to get to the center of the Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop, the world may never know….

I’ve found you can also use the same directions and substitute just about any firm vegetable in place of the cucumbers. I made a jar of sliced green papaya and green mango pickles, and they turned out mighty fine. It’s good to have another use for green papayas!

Peace,
db

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