While pickle is straight , there are a few disappointments that every pickler may run across along the direction . Here are seven brain-teaser that may leave you in a pickle — and how to fix the issue .
1 . Mushy , Limp PicklesPicklesshould never be wilted . habituate only the freshest green goods . dispatch the heyday oddment from cucumbers ( or , in a pinch , slice off a small slice from both end , without fretting about which is the flower end ) . And do not use chlorinated water .
2 . Turquoise GarlicYes , really . Some Allium sativum contain anthocyanin , a paint that is activated in acid solutions like saltwater . Other Allium sativum has sulfur compound and when brined in water with a mellow atomic number 16 substance , will turn blue or green . The semblance change freak out everyone out but the skilful news is that the pickles are fine to feed — there ’s nothing wrong with them or the Allium sativum . It ’s a little startling , but no big trade .
3 . Exploding or Foaming JarsThe first time I made garlic dill pickle , I put the jars in the service department to bring around for a calendar month . Whether I ’d failed to get rid of the blossom end of the cucumber or used tap water , I ’m not certain , but whatever I did caused the jars to burst forth . I walk into the service department one morning to a ocean of cucumbers , looking glass and noisome aroma . head off my mistakes . Always swerve off the prime end ; use fresh water ; and take the rings off the jars before storing them . If I had removed the annulus , the buildup of gas in the shock would have only raise the lids , not broken the glass . Remove . The . Rings .
4 . Way Too SaltyI have it away what you did . You register the recipe and take note the fruit of three jars and the common salt address for — hmmm , 3 tablespoons . You put a tablespoon in each jar , did n’t you ? Make the brine separately and then rain buckets it into the jars . Often there will be leftover brine , and if the salinity is in the shock , not the brine , the proportion will be ill-timed .
5 . Shriveled or Slippery PicklesHere ’s another reason to purchase a scale for preserving projects . Using too stiff a brine or too fallible a seawater will alter the science . Pickling is science . Salt should be weighed for pickling projects .
6 . Soft PicklesMake certain the pickles are entirely submerged in the seawater . This is challenging , match the pickles into the good - size jar . Jars with shoulders ( not wide - mouth ) tend to hold the pickles below the surface of the brine .
Beware of cucumber vine pickling in dry summer . Cucumis sativus do not develop well under the stress of drought conditions — they have a very high water content and need the rain . I can promise you , the mess will be disappointing . In those age , forego pickle cucumbers and research other vegetable .
Most pickle recipe can be scaled up or down . Make half a formula , or make a double recipe — just keep to the brining ratios indicated in the recipes and everything will work out fine .
Try these pickle recipes from HobbyFarms.com :
Reprinted fromMrs . Wheelbarrow ’s Practical Pantry : Recipes and Techniques for Year - Round Preservingby Cathy Barrow . right of first publication © 2014 by Cathy Barrow with permission of the publishing firm , W. W. Norton & Company , Inc. All right reserved .
