Tuesday, August 30, 2022

A Review of Making Pickles Without Canning

 

homemade pickles without canning


If you have ever made pickles with a hot water bath canner, there is a good chance you ended up with rubbery, soggy pickles with no crunch.  I did!  I tried many different recipes and even tried adding an envelope of some stuff I bought that was supposed to keep your canned pickles crunchy. They were still awful.  I had pretty much given up and resigned myself to forever buying pickles from the grocery store which was a real shame since we grow our own wonderful cucumbers every summer.

One summer day about three years ago, I was talking to a friend of mine on the phone and lamenting about the sheer number of cucumbers I was getting from my garden when she asked me why I didn't make pickles.  I told her of my lack of success in pickle making and she told me about the cold pack pickles she makes every summer.  I was shocked!  I had never heard of making pickles cold, but I had to admit that it made sense, if you wanted them to stay crunchy.  I wrote down the recipe and immediately checked the cupboards to make sure I had all the ingredients, which I did!  

I could not believe how easy it was to make these pickles!  It did not take any special equipment, all I needed was a large bowl, a knife, a ladel and a jar.  It didn't even have to be a mason jar, any jar with a tight fiting lid would do.  I decided to use some large containers I had saved from some deli pickles I had bought for my husband.  That was another great thing about this recipe, you did not have to make 10 jars at a time and spend a whole day pickle making.  My friend's recipe made two jars at a time and took only a few minutes to make. I remember thinking to myself "this has got to be too good to be true!"

Here is what you need:

  • 6 to 8 medium or 8 to 10 small cucumbers 
  • 1 3/4 cups white vinegar 
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup chopped fresh dill weed or 3 to 4 tablespoons dried dill
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 6 cloves garlic, chopped 
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons pickling salt
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons pickling spice 
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste  (optional)
  • 4 sprigs fresh dill weed or 1 teaspoon of dried

I was lucky, I had all this stuff left over from my prior pickle mishaps and I grow fresh dill in my garden, so I didn't have to go to the store, but if you do, you can get all these ingredients at any large grocery store.  If you don't grow your own cucumbers, just buy some at a produce market.

Making them is really easy, here's how:


Wash and cut up your cucumbers.  You can cut them as rounds or as spears, the shape is up to you.  

Mix the water, vinegar, chopped dill, sugar, garlic, salt, pickling spice, and red pepper flakes in an extra large bowl and stir till the sugar and salt dissolve.

Place the cucumbers in the bowl and stir gently.  Make sure all the cucumbers are fully immersed in the liquid.  Place the bowl on the counter and let it marinate for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Take your freshly washed jars and put a sprig of fresh dill in each or a pinch of dried dill, if you don't have fresh.

Ladel the cucumbers and pickling liquid evenly into the two jars and screw the lids on tightly.  Shake each jar and then place them in the refrigerator.

In ten days you will have delicious dill pickles, cold and crunchy.  If you have any left over juice, you can put it in a jar and keep it in the refrigerator till you have some cucumbers to add to it!




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8 comments:

  1. Wow, sounds so simple. So glad your friend gave you this simple homemade pickle recipe that gives you great tasting pickles anytime and thanks for sharing it with us. Yum.

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  2. This sounds great and so easy to do! It is wonderful that you do not need any special equipment and that they store for up to 2 months. I have never tried this method so thank you for sharing your detailed instructions, tips and experiences.

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  3. Wow! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I will definitely be trying it. I love you suggestion to make other pickled vegetables. My husband loves peppers and I bet he would really enjoy making and eating pickled peppers. He has wanted to can pickles in the past, but I couldn't remember how my grandmother made them. This is awesome!

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  4. I love making refrigerator pickles! In addition to cucumbers, I also love pickling carrot slices this way. Absolutely delicious! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe.

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  5. I had no idea you could make pickles this way. Canning is such a big job that I just seem to run away from the whole idea of doing it. This sounds easy and if the results are as you describe, these pickles would be a hit in our house too. I will try and let you know. Good timing on this review, it's pickle season right now! So I will get to it! Thanks Tracey!

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  6. I have always wanted to try canning pickles. This is really a simple way to do it, and I do like pickles crunchy. This is easier than what I do for my hot peppers so I think I'll use this instead. Thanks Tracey.

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  7. This recipe is a keeper, thank you! I love the quick and easy way we can do this. My mom was known for her homemade pickles, beets, relish, and more but this particular recipe would be fantastic for my family as I could do this without having a big pickling day.

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  8. Can't wait to try this! Who knew? Wow... even I can get it right with this method and recipe. Thank you!

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