Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Dill pickles

25 views
Skip to first unread message

Nick Cramer

unread,
Mar 5, 2013, 2:45:14 AM3/5/13
to
What concentration of salt to water to pickle cucumbers? Thanks.

--
Nick, KI6VAV. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their
families: https://semperfifund.org https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/
http://www.specialops.org/ http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/ ~Semper Fi~
http://www.woundedwarriors.ca/ http://www.legacy.com.au/ ~Semper Fi~

Ross@home

unread,
Mar 5, 2013, 9:31:52 AM3/5/13
to
On 05 Mar 2013 07:45:14 GMT, Nick Cramer <n_cram...@pacbell.net>
wrote:

>What concentration of salt to water to pickle cucumbers? Thanks.

Nick,

Check out http://nchfp.uga.edu/ for all your home preserving
information.
Dill pickles specifically at
http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_06/quick_dill_pickles.html

Ross.
Southern Ontario, Canada

bigwheel

unread,
Mar 5, 2013, 4:29:30 PM3/5/13
to

Nick Cramer;1818902 Wrote:
> What concentration of salt to water to pickle cucumbers? Thanks.
>
> --
> Nick, KI6VAV. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their
> families: https://semperfifund.org
> https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/
> 'Special Operations Warrior Foundation' (http://www.specialops.org/)
> 'Help for Heroes - UK Military Charity'
> (http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/) ~Semper Fi~
> 'Wounded Warriors: Home' (http://www.woundedwarriors.ca/) 'Home -
> Legacy' (http://www.legacy.com.au/) ~Semper Fi~

Old fashioned strong pickling brine will be add enough salt to float a
raw chicken egg. Which seems to recall that is about 3 cups per gallon.
Weak brine is considered 1 cup per gallon which is good for bird meat.
If you go lower than that it aint a brine. I would try 1 cup per gallon.
Not sure how you go wrong with that. Keeps us posted. Thanks. I dont
make many pickles..lol.




--
bigwheel

Geoffrey S. Mendelson

unread,
Mar 6, 2013, 4:24:03 AM3/6/13
to
bigwheel wrote:
>
>
> Old fashioned strong pickling brine will be add enough salt to float a
> raw chicken egg. Which seems to recall that is about 3 cups per gallon.
> Weak brine is considered 1 cup per gallon which is good for bird meat.
> If you go lower than that it aint a brine. I would try 1 cup per gallon.
> Not sure how you go wrong with that. Keeps us posted. Thanks. I dont
> make many pickles..lol.
>

Anyone have a more scalable measurment, such as grams of salt per liter
of water, or ounces (by weight) per quart?

TIA,

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM/KBUH7245/KBUW5379
It's Spring here in Jerusalem!!!

Nick Cramer

unread,
Mar 7, 2013, 3:59:11 AM3/7/13
to
Thanks, Ross. Quarts and litres don't matter much, but tsp and Tbs do!

Nick Cramer

unread,
Mar 7, 2013, 4:26:06 AM3/7/13
to
bigwheel <bigwheel.b7...@foodbanter.com> wrote:
> Nick Cramer;1818902 Wrote:
> > What concentration of salt to water to pickle cucumbers? Thanks.

> Old fashioned strong pickling brine will be add enough salt to float a
> raw chicken egg. Which seems to recall that is about 3 cups per gallon.
> Weak brine

Thanks. My 8 year old granddaughter eats all the pickles, cheese and salami
she can find, so life is good!

--
Nick, KI6VAV. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their
families: https://semperfifund.org https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

Geoffrey S. Mendelson

unread,
Mar 7, 2013, 4:59:04 AM3/7/13
to
Nick Cramer wrote:
>
> Thanks, Ross. Quarts and litres don't matter much, but tsp and Tbs do!
>


It does if you have to use different products. I found a web page the compares
the weight of various salts.

http://www.dadcooksdinner.com/2012/02/salt-by-weight.html

While I can't get pickling salt, I can get something called "kitchen salt"
which is used the same way kosher salt is in the US.

If you read the web page, the author found that kosher salt weighs far less
than pickling salt, so a cup of kosher salt is not enough compared
to pickling salt. I would have to use 3 cups for every two in the recipe.

BUT.....my kitchen salt is denser than his kosher salt, SO some math is
in order. Turns out by my calc, I need 225 grams of salt per liter of
water, which I can easily do.

This could explain why my attempts at pickles have always gone from the
salty cucmber to moldy/rotten stage without passing the pickle stage.

bigwheel

unread,
Mar 7, 2013, 12:10:23 PM3/7/13
to

Geoffrey S. Mendelson;1819215 Wrote:
> bigwheel wrote:-
>
>
> Old fashioned strong pickling brine will be add enough salt to float a
> raw chicken egg. Which seems to recall that is about 3 cups per
> gallon.
> Weak brine is considered 1 cup per gallon which is good for bird meat.
> If you go lower than that it aint a brine. I would try 1 cup per
> gallon.
> Not sure how you go wrong with that. Keeps us posted. Thanks. I dont
> make many pickles..lol.
> -
>
> Anyone have a more scalable measurment, such as grams of salt per liter
>
> of water, or ounces (by weight) per quart?
>
> TIA,
>
> Geoff.
>
> --
> Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM/KBUH7245/KBUW5379
> It's Spring here in Jerusalem!!!

What does the recipe your are trying to follow have to recipe say about
it? Here is a recipe from a great cook and generally trustworthy fella.
I dont know anybody who breaks out the doper scales to make
pickles..lol.

(quote)

CRISP KOSHER DILL PICKLES

1 c. canning salt
1 qt. white vinegar
3 qt. water
Garlic
Dill
1 jar grape leaves (get at deli)

Boil canning salt, vinegar, and water. In large jars put 3 to 4 garlic
pieces, 1 to 2 sprigs of dill and 1 grape leaf (1/2 on bottom, 1/2 on
top). Scrub pickles and pack in quart jars. Pour hot mixture over, seal
tight. Air cool for 24 hours, 2 1/2 to 3 months before ready to eat.

Note: Revised canning methods call for processing quart jars 15 minutes
in a boiling water bath. Consult your favorite canning reference for
more details on proper canning techniques.

Pigs
__________________
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that,
you've got it made. -Groucho Marx (1890-1977)
'Oinktoberfest' (http://www.oinktoberfest.com)
Team Gruber Mister BBQ
KCBS Citified Judge 8282
Tomorrow is just your future yesterday




--
bigwheel

Geoffrey S. Mendelson

unread,
Mar 8, 2013, 5:54:04 AM3/8/13
to
bigwheel wrote:
>
> What does the recipe your are trying to follow have to recipe say about
> it? Here is a recipe from a great cook and generally trustworthy fella.
> I dont know anybody who breaks out the doper scales to make
> pickles..lol.

Only in America. In the rest of the world dry ingredients are specified by
weight.

So I have (3 of because I keep kosher and need them for meat, dairy and
neutral) sets of US dry measuring cups, US wet measuring cups, US measuring
spoons, mertic measuring cups and a kitchen scale.

It's a high tech digital scale I bought 16 years ago, and it still works.
Every kitchen here (Israel) has one.

I have cookbooks from around the world. Most of them are from the US because
I used to live there and brought them with me.

My Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, etc cookbooks are all grams and liters.
Are the US ones different?

bigwheel

unread,
Mar 8, 2013, 1:22:25 PM3/8/13
to

Geoffrey S. Mendelson;1819660 Wrote:
> bigwheel wrote:-
>
> What does the recipe your are trying to follow have to recipe say
> about
> it? Here is a recipe from a great cook and generally trustworthy
> fella.
> I dont know anybody who breaks out the doper scales to make
> pickles..lol. -
>
> Only in America. In the rest of the world dry ingredients are specified
> by
> weight.
>
> So I have (3 of because I keep kosher and need them for meat, dairy and
>
> neutral) sets of US dry measuring cups, US wet measuring cups, US
> measuring
> spoons, mertic measuring cups and a kitchen scale.
>
> It's a high tech digital scale I bought 16 years ago, and it still
> works.
> Every kitchen here (Israel) has one.
>
> I have cookbooks from around the world. Most of them are from the US
> because
> I used to live there and brought them with me.
>
> My Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, etc cookbooks are all grams and liters.
>
> Are the US ones different?
>
> Geoff.
>
> --
> Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM/KBUH7245/KBUW5379
> It's Spring here in Jerusalem!!!

Well I have charts around here somewhere that can convert that stuff
back and forth. The Kosher salt is bigger granules but wont throw it off
enough to make any difference. Think the general rule of thumb for anal
retentive types is add an additional 1/4 cup if using Kosher and the
recipe calls for a cup of regular salt. I always use Mortons Canning and
Pickling salt for such products. It measures the same as table salt.
Main thing is get pure non iodized since the stuff with additives can
make the liquid cloudy during long term storage. In my day they covered
metrics like this. A fly weighs about a gram and a fly's turd weighs
about a milligram. The teacher say thats all we need to know about that
stuff..lol.




--
bigwheel

Secret Ingredient

unread,
Mar 9, 2013, 3:30:48 AM3/9/13
to

bigwheel

unread,
Mar 9, 2013, 3:59:30 PM3/9/13
to

Secret Ingredient;1819804 Wrote:
> 'Old Fashioned Fermented Garlic Dill Pickles'
> (http://tinyurl.com/bzuuvpm)

Very informative. Thanks for the link. I am trying to rapidly figger out
why this stuff needs to be held at 85 f. when beer and wine ferments
like crazy in the 80 degree range and just takes longer lower than that.
Would be a much more plausible attempt to try to hold a room at for six
weeks? Is there some type of consistent yeast strain which arises from
the raw cukes to cause the ferment? I'm not used to fermenting stuff
like this..but will testify raw blueberries can set up a ferment in 100
proof hooch..mainly effecting the floaters. Things get real nasty when
that happens as its the opening salvo of the rotting process. Some of
this stuff is puzzling.




--
bigwheel

songbird

unread,
Mar 9, 2013, 5:18:49 PM3/9/13
to
bigwheel wrote:
>Secret Ingredient Wrote:
...
> like this..but will testify raw blueberries can set up a ferment in 100
> proof hooch..mainly effecting the floaters. Things get real nasty when
> that happens as its the opening salvo of the rotting process. Some of
> this stuff is puzzling.

a floating blueberry is a microclimate that
certain yeasts/bacteria can survive, but
i don't know of any yeast that will survive 50%
alcohol solution of any kind.

most wine yeasts (bred for many years to
survive higher alcohol percentages) don't go
much above 13% (36 proof)). at least last i
looked at wine-making, perhaps they've raised
the bar by a few percentage points to 15%,
but a lot of the higher percentage alcohol
beverages are fortified, distilled, frozen
or filtered to get those higher amounts.


songbird
0 new messages