Purty Pickle Fixin's (courtesy of Hampstead Farms)
When I'm in the kitchen, I don't make mistakes. I have "learning experiences." Last week, I had an interesting learning experience, andsince I write this blog and thus share stuff like this with you, you don't haveto repeat my learning experience. (There's no need to thank me.)
This particular mistake, um, err, learning experience,involved my first foray into pickle making. I had a nice stash of cucumbers,dill, onions, jalapenos and garlic from my Hampstead Farms share, and sincehubby doesn't care for cucumbers (and there are only so many I can eat on myown), the combination before me screamed "pickles!"
I did some research and quickly discovered that "refrigeratorpickles" were the way to go for me (as some would say I'm not the most patientperson around). The recipe I chose promised tangy, salty, garlicky goodness inonly 24 hours. It did not lie. My refrigerator pickles were tangy. They were garlicky.Thanks to the jalapenos I added to the recipe, they were spicy too. And: They. Were.Salty. So salty in fact, that I almost threw the entire batch out. But then Iremembered the wonders to be found on the World Wide Web and turned to theinternet for a "pickles too salty" solution via Google.
Judging by the sheer number of posts and sites offering saidsolution, I guess I'm not the only novice pickler to have this particularlearning experience. The secret is osmosis, the scientific reaction thatcreates pickles in the first place. Say it with me kids: Oz-mo-sis. You learnedall about it in middle school biology, but here's a refresher. "Osmosis is the netmovement of solvent molecules through a partially permeable membrane into aregion of higher solute concentration, in order to equalize the soluteconcentrations on the two sides." It happens everywhere, including in ourbodies. But for pickles, think of it as the flavor delivery system.
When you put vegetables in a salty brine, the water inside thevegetables flows out into the brine, making the pickles crunchier. This passageof water occurs because of the tendency of substances to move througha membrane — like a cucumber skin — from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration (osmosis!). In this case, thesalty brine solution has a lower water concentration than the water insidefresh vegetables, so water will flow out of the vegetables.
As soon as I was reminded of this simple fact by quit afew folks online, it all made sense. So the fix for overly salty pickles? Drainoff half to three-quarters of your brine (depending on how salty your picklesare) and replace it with fresh water. At least some of the salt that thepickles sucked up earlier will flow right back out after a few hours' soak. Youdon't want to lose all of the flavor though, so taste and adjust the brine levelevery couple of hours.
My Perfect Pickle recipe is below, and I've modified thesalt content, so you shouldn't even have the problem for which I just spent threeparagraphs outlining a solution. But you learned (or were reminded of) somecool science. Yay! (I'm a nerd, sorry.)
And notice the super cute label on my pickles. You too candecorate your pickle jars by visiting this fantastic site with FREE printablelabels designed by a talented (and quite generous) graphic artist.
Pickles!
Perfect Pickles
14 small cucumbers or 7 medium/large cucumberscut into spears
40 sprigs of fresh dill
1 large onions, sliced thin
5 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
2 large jalapeno peppers, sliced thin
1 1/2 tsp pickling spices
1 quart of white vinegar
1/2 cup of canning salt
1 quart of water
Put cucumbers in big, heat-proof glass bowl. Addthe dill, onion, peppers, garlic and spices.
In a large saucepan, combine the water, vinegarand salt and bring to a boil. Cook and stir until salt is dissolved.
Pour the boiling liquid over the cucumber mixturelet cool completely. Then cover the bowl and refrigerate for 24 hours. Storethe pickles in the bowl or in smaller jars in the fridge for up to two weeks.You might even want to share with family and friends, which is where the cutelabels come in handy. Presentation DOES matter.
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