Salt brine pickles HELP!!!

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by ddsack

I remember my mom using grape leaves, not sure where she got them -- we've got tons of wild grapes here, would those do? How many leaves per a gallon jar?

Grape leaves have tannin in them this is why she used them.
Supposedly they make the pickles crispier I think.
Oak leaves I have read do it too.

Worth

[Karrr_Luda]

Originally Posted by ddsack

I remember my mom using grape leaves, not sure where she got them -- we've got tons of wild grapes here, would those do? How many leaves per a gallon jar?

The wild grape leaves should be fine, 2 - 4 smaller grape leaves or 1 - 2 large leaves per gallon jar, I add a horseradish leaf and 2 - 3 sour cherry leaves too. I forgot about oak leaves, will try adding one next time if I get a good pickle harvest. I say use what you can get, but horseradish leaves and black currant leaves make an aroma and flavor difference. Learned and remembered some awesome things here. Thank You for all the wonderful input!

[ddsack]

Yes, thanks to everyone for contributing to this thread. We never thought to get my Latvian mom's recipe while she was alive, so my sister follows one from a friend that involves smearing the inside of the crock with mustard and adding a piece of hard rye bread to the crock. I was skeptical and teased her about her "rotting" pickles! But now I am ready to try one of the versions in this thread - without the mustard and rye bread, at least for now!

[Karrr_Luda]

Originally Posted by ddsack

Yes, thanks to everyone for contributing to this thread. We never thought to get my Latvian mom's recipe while she was alive, so my sister follows one from a friend that involves smearing the inside of the crock with mustard and adding a piece of hard rye bread to the crock. I was skeptical and teased her about her "rotting" pickles! But now I am ready to try one of the versions in this thread - without the mustard and rye bread, at least for now!

Yumm sounds very good, will try this one for sure! Thank you for the mustard idea, reminds me Hungarian Kovászos uborka recipe, that my grandmother used to make when she was young, not anymore ... Same piece of rye bread on top of cukes with very lightly salted brine. Delish. here's a link with recipe http://www.timvidraeats.com/2012/07/...r-pickles.html

[BucksCountyGirl]

Originally Posted by ddsack

I remember my mom using grape leaves, not sure where she got them -- we've got tons of wild grapes here, would those do? How many leaves per a gallon jar?

DDsack, I use horseradish leaves now that I have a plant. I pickle in half gallon jars and use one very large horseradish leaf cut in half (half in the bottom of the jar and half on top as a primary follower). I did use fresh grape leaves a few years ago and I think 3 small leaves to a half gallon worked out well. I don't know if I would fully double that (6 leaves) for a full gallon as you may not be fully doubling the brine and the tannins might become detectable on the palate. I would try 4 or 5 and see how they come out. Wild grape should work fine

[ddsack]

Thanks, Kelli, I don't have a horseradish plant, but wild grapes are everywhere, so leaves are easy to come by. I will go easy on the amount the first time.

Karr - thanks for the link, I will forward that to my sis! I was skeptical about the bread in the brine, but good to know it can be done that way. My folks used to bake their own rye and barley breads. A coarse, moist, dense, real peasant bread. They also had a slightly lighter colored sourdough version. They had to special order the flour in huge sacks through some store or bakery because it isn't generally available. I remember they stored the flour in huge hip-high round tin containers under the basement stairs. My dad had made an old time wooden tub that they used for raising the dough. It's a shame we never wrote down the exact recipes or steps.

[Karrr_Luda]

That is so cool, so you must remember some of the process, no? And they had no recipes written down anywhere? You could probably find a similar recipe online. I make my own dark sourdough rye bread (russian) brick shaped in a bread pan and another more complicated Lithuanian recipe that requires some hard to find special ingredients and extra steps. I don't bake in the summer, so miss it already.. Rye flour I get at a local shoprite store. Do you have shop-rite in Minnesota? I call them first if they have it in stock , they sell it in 5 lb. packages. I used to order rye flour online in 50 lb bags too, not any more, much less expensive at shoprite. I got these recipes in russian, I can probably translate them and send them to you at least the simpler one if you like. You would need some sourdough starter first........ i can send you some dried starter that you can mix with rye flour and water to make fresh. Similar recipe here in English http://www.rootsimple.com/2012/12/ho...man-rye-bread/ I usually add two tbsp of blackstrap molasses to mine when i mix the final dough, the rest of ingredients is basically the same - of the simpler version.
Horseradish - if any grocery store sells the root, you can plant that in a pot or somewhere in the garden and it will grow. You can use slices of peeled root instead of the leaves, done it a few times, works great for flavor.
Never heard of barley bread though, sounds interesting, something to find

Originally Posted by ddsack

Thanks, Kelli, I don't have a horseradish plant, but wild grapes are everywhere, so leaves are easy to come by. I will go easy on the amount the first time.

Karr - thanks for the link, I will forward that to my sis! I was skeptical about the bread in the brine, but good to know it can be done that way. My folks used to bake their own rye and barley breads. A coarse, moist, dense, real peasant bread. They also had a slightly lighter colored sourdough version. They had to special order the flour in huge sacks through some store or bakery because it isn't generally available. I remember they stored the flour in huge hip-high round tin containers under the basement stairs. My dad had made an old time wooden tub that they used for raising the dough. It's a shame we never wrote down the exact recipes or steps.

[ddsack]

Karr - they had nothing written down, and just threw everything together from memory. Mom did write down some cake and pastry recipes (unrequested by me) and left them at my house, but no breads. As far as I know, we have no Shop Rites in Minnesota, but I think our local organic Co-Op probably has various flours, although they did not have a cracked wheat when I was looking for it. I don't think I would mail order, the shipping costs would be too high to justify. I'm not a great bread baker, only do it a few times a year. Sometimes it turns out, sometimes it doesn't!
That is a great looking German rye loaf in the link you provided. The recipe and instructions are easy enough, I will try to make the starter as they say, but if I have bad luck, I may have to take you up on your generous offer of dried starter! Will PM you so we quit highjacking this thread on pickles!

[salix]

Dee, my husband is Latvian and I know that somewhere I have a recipe for his grandmother's rye bread which is very heavy, dense and a bit sour. I don't remember using a sourdough type starter, but perhaps a rye biga or poolish. I loved it (except for the caraway seeds!) and wrote it down in English, translated by my DH from his Oma. Haven't made it in 20 years, and now I will make an effort to find the recipe and do a batch. If/when I find it I will post it or PM you.

[ddsack]

Thank you, Salix -- PM to follow!

[akgardengirl]

I would love to have the sourdough rye recipe also. I have some Polish rye sour. My rye (100%) bread is hard to cut, hard to chew and pretty sour. I only have one recipe I work off of but would like to try a different one.
Sue

[Worth1]

My pickles just started to get a haze film on top of the water.
Looks like sand blasted clear glass.
No off colors.
I hope this is a good sign.

Worth

[Worth1]

Also no evidence of corrosion on the stainless kettle at the water line.
Worth

[Karrr_Luda]

Originally Posted by Worth1

My pickles just started to get a haze film on top of the water.
Looks like sand blasted clear glass.
No off colors.
I hope this is a good sign.

Worth

Hi Worth, BucksCountyGirl said " ....... Unless you see green, blue, black or pink mold on the surface of your ferment, everything should be fine (even a little white film is usually just harmless Kham yeast). Best of luck, fermented pickles are the best!" I've had white film a couple of times on by beet kvas and pickles too, i just strain the kvas and take it off the top of pickle brine with a spoon, when moving them into jars and the fridge. Never had any poisoning or stomach problems. The pickles were fine. Stainless steel should be OK to use too. Maybe they are ready to go in the fridge? did you taste them?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Karrr_Luda

Hi Worth, BucksCountyGirl said " ....... Unless you see green, blue, black or pink mold on the surface of your ferment, everything should be fine (even a little white film is usually just harmless Kham yeast). Best of luck, fermented pickles are the best!" I've had white film a couple of times on by beet kvas and pickles too, i just strain the kvas and take it off the top of pickle brine with a spoon, when moving them into jars and the fridge. Never had any poisoning or stomach problems. The pickles were fine. Stainless steel should be OK to use too. Maybe they are ready to go in the fridge? did you taste them?

Right now they taste like a Claussen pickle how on earth could they be ready?
They have only been in the brine for like maybe 4 days.
The only draw back is they are slicing cucumbers but they still aren't bad.
Worth