Quick Pickles...

[#juan]

A few months ago my wife bought a large(read huge) jar of Vlassic Bread and Butter Pickles. These pickles are American I believe but they are great pickles. I took the last pickle out of the jar the day before yesterday and at the same time I noticed that we had several large cucumbers in the fridge. What I did was to pour all the pickle juice and spices into large saucepan with a lid. I added a bit of white vinegar and a couple teaspoons of sugar and put it on the stove to heat.
In the meantime I washed the cucumbers and sliced them like the original pickles. I washed out the pickle jar and sterilized it and the lid with boiling water. I then put the sliced cucumbers in the jar along with a few slices of onion. I then poured the boiling hot pickle juice over the cucumbers etc in the jar and filled the jar to the brim. I put on the lid finger tight and let it cool on the side board until the lid popped in. At that time I tightened the lid. I will leave these pickles in the fridge for about a week and a half and I will have pickles as good as the originals.
I've done this before and it works pretty good. I don't think I would do it more than once with the same pickle juice...

Just as an aside, the original jar of pickles was six or seven dollars. The pickles I just made cost a buck or two so if you have the time....It's worth it....;-):lol:

 

[Ron in Regina]

I'd have tossed in several smoked sausages and a dozen or more hard
boiled eggs, and maybe a few peppers too, but to each their own.

 

[#juan]

I'd have tossed in several smoked sausages and a dozen or more hard
boiled eggs, and maybe a few peppers too, but to each their own.

The idea Ron was to get more good Bread and Butter Pickles.

I haven't had pickled eggs and pickled sausage since I lived in Edmonton. I've made them a few times since but in our family I'm the only one who eats them.

 

[Ron in Regina]

The idea Ron was to get more good Bread and Butter Pickles.

I haven't had pickled eggs and pickled sausage since I lived in Edmonton. I've made them a few times since but in our family I'm the only one who eats them.

My mistake Juan. I love picked eggs & sausages, but not so much their side effects.

 

[#juan]

My mistake Juan. I love picked eggs & sausages, but not so much their side effects.

I knew/know a guy in Edmonton who swears that with the right combination of beer and pickled eggs he can clear a car in minutes. Having experienced one of his gastronomic bombs first hand, I think he could clear a Greyhound bus.:roll:

 

[Risus]

I've boiled eggs for 14 minutes and put them in the juice from Strub's dills. I left them in the fridge for a few weeks. They came out excellent.

 

[gopher]

It is a great idea to re-use brine from pickled products.

For example, you may want to use it to add salt to a soup or casserole. It will add seasoning and flavor.


And remember to recycle the bottle!

 

[#juan]

I've boiled eggs for 14 minutes and put them in the juice from Strub's dills. I left them in the fridge for a few weeks. They came out excellent.

As long as the jar has bee sterilized and the pickle juice is boiling when you pour it over the eggs, they should keep for a few weeks at least.

 

[gopher]

Does the brine have to be boiled when using it for pickling eggs? This is the first I've heard that.

I thought the eggs should be cooled and then put into the brine.

Any furthere data on that, please?

 

[L Gilbert]

We reuse pickle juice, too, Juan. Only we fill the jar with garlic cloves. We both love pickled garlic. I don't think Anna heats the juice though. I think she just puts the cloves in the juice. I suppose if we didn't start eating them right away they could be sealed though. The favorite brine is the pickled Ukrainian sausage juice.

 

[AnnaG]

No heating. I can't see any point in reheating the juice in order to seal a jar when it's contents don't even have time to settle before someone's fingers are in there probing for a goodie. lol

 

[#juan]

No heating. I can't see any point in reheating the juice in order to seal a jar when it's contents don't even have time to settle before someone's fingers are in there probing for a goodie. lol

You are no doubt right but when you are pickling fresh onion and cucumber slices, you pretty well have to get the brine up to boiling because it takes a week or two at least to pickle them properly and they should be sealed for at least that long so you don't grow any bugs...;-)

PS The pickled garlic sounds good

 

[Risus]

Does the brine have to be boiled when using it for pickling eggs? This is the first I've heard that.

I thought the eggs should be cooled and then put into the brine.

Any furthere data on that, please?

I have never gone through the boiling process, and I haven't poisoned myself yet...

 

[AnnaG]

You are no doubt right but when you are pickling fresh onion and cucumber slices, you pretty well have to get the brine up to boiling because it takes a week or two at least to pickle them properly and they should be sealed for at least that long so you don't grow any bugs...;-)

PS The pickled garlic sounds good

I'll try that
Could be fun after I make some and greedyguts pokes his fingers into hot brine. lol
Bugs aren't particularly fond of acidic things.

 

[#juan]

I have never gone through the boiling process, and I haven't poisoned myself yet...

You've been lucky. My wife and I have pickled virtually everything over the last forty odd years. We always boil the brine and we always sterilize the jars. If the jars don't seal, we repeat the whole process and on a few occasions, even we've had a few jars go bad.

The pickles we just did by re-using using the the pickle brine will be kept in the fridge till they're gone.

 

[AnnaG]

Yeah, there's a myriad of bugs that like to feast on human tasties. Not many that will go after pickled things, but regular canned things are attractive if one isn't careful; canned chicken and fish come to mind.

Campylobacter jejuni
Clostridium botulinum
Escherichia coli
Salmonella typhimurium
Shigella
Staphylococcus aureus
Vibrio cholera
Vibrio vulnificus

are a few of the bacteria that like to feast on the same foods as we do.
Then there is the parasytes like these:

Entamoeba histolytica
Giardia duodenalis
Cryptosporidium parvum
Cyclospora cayetanensis
Toxoplasma gondii
Trichinella spiralis
The Taenia triplets

 

[#juan]

About ten years ago I went on what was my most successful fishing trip. I brought back about thirty five pounds of Coho. I borrowed a pressure cooker and canned the lot of it.

My mom canned moose almost every year meat with just a big canning kettle with a lid and the racks for the jars. Today I wouldn't can any meat or fish without a pressure cooker.

 

[AnnaG]

I've never had a pressure canner. I think processing for 40 minutes minimum (fruits, veggies), 2 hours for raw meats, 90 minutes for cooked meats is enough to kill bad bugs. I suppose one could shorten the time by using a pressure canner though.

 

[VanIsle]

A few months ago my wife bought a large(read huge) jar of Vlassic Bread and Butter Pickles. These pickles are American I believe but they are great pickles. I took the last pickle out of the jar the day before yesterday and at the same time I noticed that we had several large cucumbers in the fridge. What I did was to pour all the pickle juice and spices into large saucepan with a lid. I added a bit of white vinegar and a couple teaspoons of sugar and put it on the stove to heat.
In the meantime I washed the cucumbers and sliced them like the original pickles. I washed out the pickle jar and sterilized it and the lid with boiling water. I then put the sliced cucumbers in the jar along with a few slices of onion. I then poured the boiling hot pickle juice over the cucumbers etc in the jar and filled the jar to the brim. I put on the lid finger tight and let it cool on the side board until the lid popped in. At that time I tightened the lid. I will leave these pickles in the fridge for about a week and a half and I will have pickles as good as the originals.
I've done this before and it works pretty good. I don't think I would do it more than once with the same pickle juice...

Just as an aside, the original jar of pickles was six or seven dollars. The pickles I just made cost a buck or two so if you have the time....It's worth it....;-):lol:

We bought Bicks for years and years. Then I told my husband that we sell a lot of Vlassic pickles at SOM so I bought some for him. (Dills) He raves about them to everyone. I can hardly keep them in the fridge!

 

[VanIsle]

I've never had a pressure canner. I think processing for 40 minutes minimum (fruits, veggies), 2 hours for raw meats, 90 minutes for cooked meats is enough to kill bad bugs. I suppose one could shorten the time by using a pressure canner though.

I don't process fruit for anywhere near that long. I only do fruit for 20 min. As long as it seals it's fine. Same with my tomatoes. We use a tbsp. of lemon in the tomatoes to make them more acidic. Again - as long as they seal it's all good. I wouldn't do veggies without a pressure cooker and I'm a little scared of them. Had a school teacher that had one blow up in his face and while I'm sure they are much safer now - they still scare me. He was a real mess. I canned a whole salmon one time. We had so much we were giving it away. Once was enough. We prefer canned tuna and when I can buy white tuna for $1.29 a can, it's not worth the trouble to can it.
Haven't made pickles for years and it never occurred to me to re-use the brine so I will have to try it.