attempting to grow our own gerkins and i need a real simple low cost recipe/s that is good for both sliced and whole gerkins, have both little ones and some bigger ones that i didnt catch in time. thanks.
daarhn,
Jan 14, 6:02am
Bread & Butter Pickels recipe that I have lost someone where between Perth last year and here. God knows where I put it but was perfect for gerkins, cucumbers by the bucket loads.
ballito,
Jan 14, 12:10pm
Tried and true recipe. Nice crunchy gherkins.
BRINE 6 tbsp common salt 1 quart of water Soak gherkins and turn daily for 3 - 4 days. Drain.
Equal parts vinegar and water. Bring to boil. Pour over gherkins and leave.
Cool. Pack gherkins into jars. Pour over liquid and seal.
pickles7,
Jan 14, 2:16pm
Do you put the jars of gherkins in a water bath and process to seal them. ?.
pickles7,
Jan 14, 2:21pm
pickle ### 1 kg of gherkins.
wash them well not leaving any flower ends on. Dissolve 1/2 cup of sea salt in 4 cups of water. Line a non-metallic bowl with grape leaves, put gherkins on top, cover those with more grape leaves. pour brine over and Leave for five days in a cool place to turn yellow. Deal with sooner if they go yellow faster. Drain. boil up 4 cups of white vinegar, 1 cup of sugar, 2 Tbsp of black peppercorns, 1 Tbsp each of, whole allspice, whole cloves, whole mustard seeds. 1 cm sliced root ginger. Add gherkins and simmer until they turn olive green again , pack into jars, cover with the vinegar, put lids on. enjoy. Process 1 jar of gherkins at a time in the hot vinegar etc,
ballito,
Jan 14, 4:14pm
I haven't put them in water bath just sealed them as normal preserves but when I bottle my tomato soup I seal those jars in a water bath in a pressure cooker.
pickles7,
Jan 14, 7:43pm
ok, you put a lid on the jars, the jars are not sealed.
ballito,
Jan 14, 8:17pm
I seal jars. I use the overflow method. I always seal the jars but as I said before I use the pressure cooker for tomato soup and have done preserved fruit the same way as well as bottled trout which I always do in the pressure cooker.
pickles7,
Jan 14, 8:35pm
You put, cool vinegar over your gherkins they will not seal. Maybe you forgot to write a step in your recipe. The lids will not suck down and seal with a cool process.
ballito,
Jan 14, 10:37pm
For completeness and to clarify the recipe. I pour boiling and not cold liquid over gherkins and then using the overflow method seal the jars.
ballito,
Jan 14, 10:39pm
Thank you for pointing this out pickles7. I have clarified what I do. I have always picked gherkins using this method. The jars always seal and the lids always suck down.
pickles7,
Jan 15, 12:02am
Never mind, so long as you know what you are doing. I start at the top and am still confused , 1 cup of sugar to every cup and a half of vinegar. Scary as, The cucumbers I preserved today would have had a whole cup of sugar in each jar.
bev00,
Jan 15, 4:01am
for picklers
joanne38,
Jan 15, 6:16am
so do i use 1 c sugar to every 1.5 of vinegar or can i use less sugar,. ?
floralsun,
Jan 15, 9:37am
Way less sugar joanne, sweeten it to your taste, the vinegar is mostly what preserves pickles. My onions have a dessertspoon of brown sugar for each 1.5litre jar, my gherkins a little more. Sealed jars or popped down lids, aren't necessary for pickling gherkins, onions, etc either, I use the vinegar mix cold and pour it over the gherkins and onions, and have done this for more than 35 years. The veges stay crisp this way too.
laspaz,
Jan 15, 12:41pm
I processed 7 jars yesterday, I do slices and spears.
Brine: 3 Litres water 1 litre white vinegar 1/2 cup salt 1/3 cup sugar.
Slice cucumbers and put into jars, then add 3 sliced garlic cloves, 1 tsp dried dill, pinch of chilli flakes.
Top with brine, put on seal and ring and process in hot water bath for 10 mins.
Boom, all done and dealt with in a hour or so.
whitehead.,
Jan 15, 2:25pm
stuff the flowers with cream cheese and herbs and dip in batter and deep fry them the flowers are yummy and a real treat
joanne38,
Jan 15, 2:34pm
and if i was to do the larger ones as sliced gerkins would i need to soak them before i slice them?
Have used this easy recipe for over 30 years with great success. Dissolve 1 cup Salt in 2 litres of hot water. Adjust to suit quantity of gherkins. Add gherkins & leave to soak 12 - 24 hours. Rinse & dry with a clean tea towel. Bring required amount of spiced vinegar to boil, add a little sugar to reduce sharpness - I add approx. 1/2 tspn to every litre of vinegar. Place gherkins in hot vinegar for 2 minutes. Pack into jars & pour hot vinegar over to cover. Leave until cold & re cover with vinegar. Place on lid & leave at least 6 weeks before using. Store in cool place. I just use coffee or jam jars & lids. I don't use seals as such.
roseann48,
Jan 15, 5:09pm
I should also add I use the brought spiced vinegar. The only time I do but they taste so much better with brought rather than homemade.
katalin2,
Jan 15, 6:00pm
Roseann, do your gherkins stay crunchy, and do you get an airtight seal or just a screw top? I have used alison Holst's basic recipe but only add dill and bay leaf and get a crunchy gherkin every time, but I do aim for an airtight seal, if not I keep those jars in the fridge. Like you I have used my recipe for 30 odd years if not more. I am however interested in a recipe that doesn't call for airtight seal though.
roseann48,
Jan 15, 8:24pm
katalin2 they are not crunchy as such but same texture as the store bought ones. I just make sure there are no imperfections in the lid then screw it on tightly. They are stored with all my other preserves in a cupboard in my garage.
katalin2,
Jan 15, 10:40pm
Thanks Roseann, will stick to my tried recipe which if I get a good seal comes out crunchy as, people usually comment on how different they are from bought ones.
gbking,
Jan 18, 7:44pm
put my first jar down today, have been using the same recipe for many, many years, it came from Woman's Weekly a good 30 years ago. nice and quick, doesn't involve soaking in brine and produces a gerkin nice and crunchy but not too salty. Adjust numbers to suit 2.5kg gerkins 8 cups water 4/5 cups plain salt 4&half cups cider vinegar 1&half cups sugar 1tsp all spice berries piece cinnamon stick dill seed mustard seed garlic wash and clean gerkins, cut larger ones put water and salt in pot and bring to boil add gerkins and simmer for 10 minutes, drain heat vinegar and sugar with cinnamon and allspice in bag. when boiling add gerkins and return to boil In each jar add dill seed, mustard, garlic, pack in gerkins and top with hot vinegar and seal
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