Pickles
 

Has anyone every made this? A small company in the state makes this - about $6.50 for a small tall jar. They are devine and the ingredients look rather straight forward. Their's are still crisp-ish, not soggy. I found a recipe but wonder if anyone has tried to pickle asparagus, mine is usually devoured immediately-lightly steamed or sauteed! Piegirl

Piegirl,

I love asparagus. The season is winding down here so I doubt I'll be buying anymore. I've never had asparagus pickles. I will look at some reliable sources for recipes. It would be a good way to extend the harvest when you grow your own or find a good deal at the store.

Asparagus pickles are great. Have never made them myself, but if you grow a lot of them, it would probably be worth the effort.

I'm trying to remember if Costco has pickled asparagus or green beans. Seems to me it was asparagus and for a more reasonable buy than what you listed, but I haven't bought it for a while so not sure what the cost is.

air bubbles in my pickled peppers
 

About a week ago I canned some pickled peppers,making sure to get the air bubbles out before putting on the lids.Now a week later,if I rotate the jars small air bubbles float to the top.The jars are all sealed properly.What went wrong?Are they safe to eat?

Thanks Jim

Should be. Sometimes the air bubbles were from the air pockets in the peppers - especially if packed whole. You might want to try slitting them first, next time.

If they turn greyish, then I would be concerned or if they start oozing from the jars and break the seal. Or if they smell off when you open the jar too.

The peppers weren't whole the were sliced lengthwise.

[quote=jej826;109213]The peppers weren't whole the were sliced lengthwise.[/quote]
Anyone else want to chime in on this?

If you are concerned freeze them and then you won't have a problem. That is if you have room in a freezer. You can also store a few in the fridge if you eat them within a few weeks. There is usually so much vinegar that they are pretty safe for quite a while.

Duane

Thats the problem,freezers are full of peppers eggplant,beans,turnips etc....No room for any meat.LOL
So now everything else gets canned.
Thanks for the info.I also thought with all the vinegar they would be OK.

watermelon rind pickle recipes
 

Haven't done a search yet but does anyone have a good recipe for these? My grandmother's were the best but we couldn't find the recipe. They had no or little citrus, turned lightly brown from the spices. They were not a crisp pickle, nor were they overly sweet. I tried several recipes years back and they were too sweet. Thanks - piegirl

My mother made these things and she more than likely got the formula from the Kerr or Ball book.

In pickling the only thing you need to worry about is the acid content.

You can ad hot pepper or add more or less sugar as your tastes dictate.

A pinch of salt is added to stop fermentation.
this can go up or down considerably as to your taste.

If you don't like the sweetness of the pickles then just cut back on the sugar and taste the brine.

I remember many times how my mother and I would make pickles and adjust the spices to our taste as none of them were right on as to our liking.

Just experiment and you will find the flavor you want and then it will be yours from now on.
Remember a recipe of any kind is just a starting point.;)

I hope this helped as a good pickle is a beautiful thing to behold.:yes:

Worth

Try the Watermelon Recipes at The Old Farmer's Almanac: [url]http://www.almanac.com/recipes/search/results.php?keyword=watermelon[/url]

If you've never been to this site, you just gotta go. This is recipe central IMHO. And it is free.

This was the first of many recipes for watermelon rind pickles.

[URL]http://chef2chef.net/recipes/search_result.php?search=watermelon+rind[/URL]

I have a foodsaver vacuum sealer that has a canning jar attachment (they have both "regular" & "wide mouth". Please note that vacuuming on the canning lids IS NOT a replacement for processing either in a HWB or pressure canner. My point is, if I vacuum the lids on the jars before processing, it removes much more of the air in the jar and "pulls" the brine into the peppers (speaking more about whole peppers here.) After making the brine following whatever recipe you choose, I don't process my pickled peppers but just put them in jars, vacuum the lids on and store in the refrigerator. Processed peppers just get too soft. But again THEY MUST BE REFRIGERATED. Once you do them this way, you will agree that this is a much superior pickled pepper.

I don't want to steer off the topic of Jim's bubbles (I'm afraid I can't help), but I have to ask ... brokenbar, how long do your pickled peppers in the vacuumed jars keep in the fridge?


Thanks,
Bitwise