Dehydrated Refrigerator Pickles

I never like opening the last jar of anything. My goal is to keep my pantry stocked sufficiently enough, so that I start each preservation season with at least a small surplus from a previous year. It doesn't always work out that way, however, and recently I ran out of pickles. That meant it was time to try a recipe from a book I reviewed a while back, Prepper's Dyhydrator Handbook.

Dehydrated Refrigerator Pickles

Ingredients

• 1 cup vinegar (I used distilled white)
• 1 cup water
• 1½ tbsp pickling or canning salt
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• ¼ tsp dill seed
• ⅛ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1½ cups dried cucumber slices

To Make

• In a saucepan mix water, vinegar, and salt. Bring to a boil.
• In a pint canning jar put the remaining ingredients.

Dry ingredients in the jar (I used fresh garlic).

• Cover with boiled brine, leaving ½-inch headspace.

Covered with brine. Ingredients are floating.

• Refrigerate 24 hours before serving.

24 hours later.

Ready to eat. How'd they turn out?

Well, they didn't look like "real" pickle slices. The recipe seemed to indicate that they'd plump up nicely overnight, but I didn't find that to be the case. They pretty much still had the appearance and texture of dehydrated cucumbers. I also thought it curious that my clear brine of white vinegar and water turned brownish, as though I'd used apple cider vinegar.

A possible reason for these things (the only one I can think of, anyway) is that my cucumber slices were dried harder than the recipe's author's. My climate is humid enough that I must dehydrate everything rock hard to prevent molding later on. Not that it stays that hard. Those clever DIY veggie snack chip recipes don't turn out with my humidity. My dried fruits and veggies become soft and limp as soon as they cool off from being taken out of the dehydrator.

Then the taste test. They tasted like . . . . . .  pickles! Chewy pickles. Dan would have preferred a little more dill which is easily remedied. If I try them again, maybe I should try leaving them in simmering brine for awhile.

My conclusion? I'm definitely glad I tried the recipe, and I would make them again in a pinch, but I won't give up making fresh pickles.

Dehydrated Refrigerator Pickles © Feb. 2020

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

August Days

August days are harvest days for me, filled with picking, preserving, and this year, also writing. Sandwiched between morning and evening chores, my days are full and fulfilling.

Blueberries

On the first of the month I got my last picking of blueberries. It wasn't a gangbusters year for blueberries, but we've eaten our fill fresh, in pies, and in pancakes every Sunday morning. I froze two-gallons worth, and had my granddaughters over for a blueberry picking party and blueberry lunch. I sent a gallon home with my daughter-in-law, so I'm satisfied with the season!

Blueberry harvest lasts for about a month, whereas I only get a week for figs.

Figs

I think this has been my most abundant year for figs yet! Flavor-wise they are kind of bland, so we don't eat many fresh, but I did nail my recipe for fresh fig pie (which I'll share next time). Most of our figs are canned to eat with breakfast or lunch, dehydrated for baking, and frozen for winter jam making.

Elderberries

It's time to pick elderberries too. I know there are quite a few green ones in there, but I have stiff competition with the birds for these. They don't mind eating them green, so I have to get at least some before they're all gone! But I've got three gallons of berries so far, which is the most I've ever gotten. I freeze them for jelly  making in the winter.

Tomatoes and cucumbers

We're enjoying our tomatoes: green ones to fry and red ones for eating fresh and for making pizza sauce to can. If I can't get to them right away, I freeze them and work on the sauce later. We've been eating cucumbers once or twice a day too, plus I've restocked the pickle and cucumber relish shelf in the pantry.

Okra and yellow summer squash

I only have a couple of squash plants, so both harvest and eating are manageable for just the two of us. The small ones we eat fresh in salads, medium ones are sauteed as a side dish, and when I get a few big ones I'll make stuffed squash.

Of okra I planted three rows, and it has done really well this year (after two years of not). I'm not keen on stewed okra, but we like it oven fried or sauteed. I slice and freeze quite a bit to accompany winter meals, and also I've been able to can okra pickles!

Okra pickles with garlic

My green beans slowed down in July when it was so hot and dry. August has brought both cooler temperatures plus welcome rain (over 4 inches so far!), so bean production has picked up again.

We love them steamed with butter and salt, plus I can them. I know folks usually prefer their green beans frozen, but I don't have any room left in my freezer. Plus I love to grab a jar to make my Green Bean Caesar as a last minute side dish.

The only dry beans I planted this year was cow peas.

I planted them at the top of the corn field. They didn't get a lot of water last month so quite a few of the plants are dead now. But the harvest is enough for us and as a treat for the critters as well.

We don't usually harvest meat this time of year, because processing in warm weather attracts too many flies. But it was time to do something about all the ducks, especially since Mama Duck had gone off to brood another batch.

Of our 12 Muscovy ducklings we ended up with nine adult ducks: five females and four males. Big Duck (our drake) had rounded up all the lady ducks for himself and was constantly chasing the males. The chickens were constantly pecking and chasing them too. (Poultry can be pretty ruthless toward one another.) They were destined for the freezer anyway, so when the forecast was for an overnight low of about 60°F (15°C - a real treat for us this time of year) we decided to do the deed. Muscovy tastes more like beef than duck or chicken, by the way.

So those are my August days so far, how are yours? Are you picking and preserving like me, or in the planning stages? Do let me know!

August Days © Aug. 2017 by Leigh

at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

ISO a Crisper Home Canned Pickle

ISO = in search of

In my all years of canning, something that has remained elusive is a crisp home canned pickle. My pickles have been good flavored (depending on the recipe), but kinda limp. Very disappointing compared to crisp, store bought pickles.

I've researched this from time to time and tried several recipes claiming to produce crisp pickles. In my early days of pickle making, pickling lime was said to be the key to crisp pickles. When I investigated this, I ran across a cautionary statement warning that pickling lime can be dangerous to use. All I saw was "lime" and "dangerous" and became alarmed. For years I assumed that lime was a poisonous food to eat!

Then I bought Nourishing Traditions and learned about pH and how certain foods react to it. I was shocked that lime was recommended for nixtamalization of the corn. This is the process of soaking corn in an alkali solution to increase nutrient content, digestibility, and flavor of the corn. It is a common practice for all corn products in Mexico.

When it came to my pickles, I realized the problem was not the lime itself, but the pH. To be safe, water bath canning is recommended only for acidic foods. By using lime to crispen pickles, the danger would be that the pH might not be acidic enough for water bath canning. Pressure canning them would turn them to mush! Because of that, I decided not to try lime in hopes of a crisper pickle.

A couple summers ago, I ran across a recipe touting crisp results without the use of a pH changing agent. The recipe called for soaking the cucumbers in ice water or in the refrigerator overnight. I decided to give that recipe a try. I have to say that the pickles themselves were delicious, but not very crisp.

This summer I probably would have used that same recipe but couldn't find it. I thought about my Practical Produce Cookbook and decided to look there for a recipe. I like this cookbook because it's arranged alphabetically by vegetable. Besides recipes, it includes gardening and harvesting tips which I find useful. I decided to try the "Fresh Pack Dill Pickles" on page 91, because the recipe gave ingredients in proportions. That meant I could adjust it for as many cucumbers as I had.

There are 1000s of pickle recipes out there but this was the first one I'd seen with instructions to fill the jar with boiling pickling solution and then put the jars into the canner with the water already boiling. Timing starts immediately, as soon as the jars are put into that boiling water bath. Usually I turn off the heat after I scald my jars, turn it back on with all the jars are filled, and then start timing when the water starts boiling again.

This recipe never said anything about "crisp" or "crisper" but those pickles are. Crisper I mean. They don't droop and actually have some crunch! And delicious too. It's a keeper of a pickle recipe.

I can only assume that it was the processing that made the difference. It would be interesting to try this technique with other recipes, although I like this one very well. Made with my fresh garden cucumbers, garlic, and onions, plus homegrown dill, I can't imagine changing a thing.

I'd be interested in your pickling experiences. Are you satisfied with the crispness of your home canned pickles? I'd love to hear your tips!

ISO a Crisper Home Canned Pickle © November 2013 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

A Question For Pickle Pusses

Leftover pickle juice

What do you all do with your leftover pickle juice? Being the frugal sort, I cannot stand to throw anything out if it might be useful. Pickle juice is one of those things that is useful, but I have more of it than uses for it. We like it in homemade cole slaw, and Dan occasionally adds a bit to a glass of water, to give it some zing. Because of the salt and acidity, it's one canning liquid I won't use to water any plants or in the compost. I'm sure it could be used in salad dressings. Does anyone have any recipes? Any other suggestions?

A Question For Pickle Pusses
© January 2012 by Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/

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