Author Topic: "Dill it yourself" pickles  (Read 3362 times)

galliver

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1863
"Dill it yourself" pickles
« on: August 12, 2017, 10:36:39 PM »
Wasn't quite sure where to put this, but ultimately decided:
-costs less than a similar tub of (tasty) pickles (though more than a jar)
-puts the idea in people's heads that pickles are DIY-able
-punny!

Which are all positive traits.

Though on the flip side:
-jars of pickles cost less
-totally DIY pickles cost less
-Americans tend have trouble going part to full DIY (eg baking, pancake mixes)

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


horsepoor

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3497
  • Location: At the Barn
  • That old chestnut.
Re: "Dill it yourself" pickles
« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2017, 10:51:17 PM »
I think that should be in the Antimustachian Wall of Shame.  Really?  A jar of cucumbers? 

I suppose if it's a gateway to making your own lactofermented pickles, maybe, but water+salt+cukes+time=pickles.  Plus I wonder about using plastic in an acidified environment.  A mason jar seems like a better choice.

lizzzi

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2150
Re: "Dill it yourself" pickles
« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2017, 11:26:31 AM »
I think that should be in the Antimustachian Wall of Shame.  Really?  A jar of cucumbers? 

I suppose if it's a gateway to making your own lactofermented pickles, maybe, but water+salt+cukes+time=pickles.  Plus I wonder about using plastic in an acidified environment.  A mason jar seems like a better choice.

Yes, absolutely this.

Please. Puh--leee-zz. Move this  idiotic picture to the Wall of Shame immediately. A pickle kit. Good Lord.

I was just thinking how we used to grow cucumbers in our big garden, and my mother and grandmother used to make pickles out of them (yes, in Mason jars).  Not hard to do, and they were so much better than store-bought. I'd say just buy the cucumbers and the jars, and do it at home the old-fashioned way. Hey, my aunt's watermelon rind pickles were fabulous, too! Sounds terrible, but they tasted great.

coldestcat

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 77
Re: "Dill it yourself" pickles
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2017, 12:52:20 PM »
I want to make my own pickles and a few other things. If anyone has any pickling tips that sounds good to me. I havent gotten around to it, but this seems silly, especially when packaged in a non-biodegradable plastic container.

galliver

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1863
Re: "Dill it yourself" pickles
« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2017, 02:57:00 PM »
It's obviously not a product for people like lizzzi or myself with collections of mason jars and relatives to ask about pickling techniques! And if it was $12 or something, I'd agree with you all...but the same store sells small cukes by themselves, usually for $2.99/lb bag which is pretty on par with mainstream grocery stores in the area (I rarely get them there because I know where to get them for less, but sometimes it's not worth the additional trip and I want my tasty cukes, so I cough up the extra $1-2). So, someone who sees it and thinks it's a cool idea, maybe as a project to do with their kids, whatever is paying a whopping $1 for instructions, a pre-made mix of appropriate spices and a bucket (which is probably recyclable, and a drop in the bucket of clamshells, baggies, etc of grocery packaging). Maybe it'll just be a thing they try once, in which case the $1 is definitely cheaper than canning equipment and a full set of spices going to waste; or maybe they'll like it and go looking for recipes and equipment. When I was growing up, my family started making stir fry by buying bagged meals from Trader Joes for when mom got tired of cooking; not long after that we did veggies from scratch + store bought sauce, and now I make it completely from scratch. It happens.

Baby steps are a great way to get to places, and I, for one, am glad that affordable baby steps exist that encourage people to cook (meal kits), to garden, to pickle, or any number of other tasks, even if their family has lost these skills in the past couple generations. I'm glad, even if these things are a little silly (the pickle kit made me giggle, which is why I originally photographed it). I'm glad, even if I wish they were unnecessary due to more people having the fundamental know-how and boldness to try things off the internet without this handholding.

lizzzi

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2150
Re: "Dill it yourself" pickles
« Reply #5 on: August 16, 2017, 07:40:18 AM »
Yeah, good points, Galliver.

horsepoor

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3497
  • Location: At the Barn
  • That old chestnut.
Re: "Dill it yourself" pickles
« Reply #6 on: August 18, 2017, 10:41:32 PM »
It's obviously not a product for people like lizzzi or myself with collections of mason jars and relatives to ask about pickling techniques!

You could just use the empty jar from your last jar of pickles?  I Ziploc bag makes a great airlock, and the interwebz have all sorts of info on how to.

coldestcat My basic method is 1 qt of water with 2 Tbsp sea salt dissolved in a 2 qt jar.  Add cukes and onions and things like garlic and peppercorns.  Put a little more water in a Ziploc bag with a tsp of salt.  Squeeze out the air and use it as a weight to keep your future cukes underwater.  Watch for any white stuff growing around the top (kham yeast) and wipe it off or rinse the "weight" if it gets slimy.  When the pickles taste good, put in fridge and consume.  Commence pickling All The Things.

http://www.scratchmommy.com/easy-fermented-pickles/

Kuznec

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 11
  • Age: 41
Re: "Dill it yourself" pickles
« Reply #7 on: September 06, 2017, 01:22:19 PM »
And what is difficult? In the summer you roll up cucumbers in jars to have a salty cucumber for the New Year in the winter.

galliver

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1863
Re: "Dill it yourself" pickles
« Reply #8 on: September 06, 2017, 02:48:31 PM »
And what is difficult? In the summer you roll up cucumbers in jars to have a salty cucumber for the New Year in the winter.

For someone who has not done or seen this done before and isn't aware of risks and pitfalls: not getting food poisoning.

horsepoor

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3497
  • Location: At the Barn
  • That old chestnut.
Re: "Dill it yourself" pickles
« Reply #9 on: September 07, 2017, 09:08:08 AM »
And what is difficult? In the summer you roll up cucumbers in jars to have a salty cucumber for the New Year in the winter.

For someone who has not done or seen this done before and isn't aware of risks and pitfalls: not getting food poisoning.

Fermentation doesn't work that way.  If you do it wrong, you'll know because the food will be moldy and way too disgusting to eat.  It's not like botulism with canning.