I really wanted to figure out how to recreate those at home and looked online for some recipes, but ultimately decided to just wing it on my own. Some people online had trouble with mold, or with "fuzz" appearing at the top of the pickles. My Bonus Dad Harry warned me that he'd heard that garlic goes blue/green when put into vinegar raw, but I didn't have that problem either. It was just easy, and great!
Now, I will say--these are SPICY. These are not like the classic Claussen Dills. Tonight I'm going to change up the vinegar/water ratio (because even for me it was just a tiny bit too vinegar-y, though my girlfriends said they were really good) and tone it down on the red pepper to see if I can get a little bit closer to perfection. That's why I consider this recipe to be a "working recipe", because I will update it as I refine. If you like spicy, though, you will LOVE these--housemate TB absolutely raved, saying he can never find a pickle in the store that is as spicy and crispy as he likes.
I was happy with the way these turned out--they had the crisp crunch I was looking for and I don't see any reason why I would hot brine ever again.
Here we go!
Pretty pickles in a pretty jar!
Spicy Claussen Knock-Off Pickles (Working Recipe)
What You Need
1 package small pickling cucumbers (these come in packs of six, usually, in a little Styrofoam carton covered in cling wrap)
1 cup white distilled vinegar
1 cup filtered water
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon mustard seed
3-4 garlic cloves, minced roughly
1 handful fresh dill, trimmed of stems (I bought one of those tiny plastic containers of dill in the fresh herb section of the store)
What You Do
1. Wash your cucumbers well and dry. Cut off the stem ends and slice them into spears, then follow the directions for salting them as found in step 1 of the Bread & Butter Pickles recipe. Same concept--we're trying to draw out some of the water to make a crisper pickle.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, water and spices. No heating required!
Oh, I guess I threw my garlic in there too during this step. Whatever. It isn't rocket surgery peeps.
3. You'll need a large Ball jar or other type of jar with a tight fitting seal for these pickles. I keep forgetting to look what size my jars are because I'm disorganized and have the memory capacity of goldfish. If your 15 minutes of "salting" time for the cukes are up, you can pat them dry nicely with a paper towel and stuff them into the jar along with the minced garlic and the dill. You'll want them to have a LITTLE bit of room to move around so that you can shake up the jar every day.
4. Pour in the brine. For me, I discovered that I was about 2 tablespoons too short of brine because you really want them to be covered completely, so I added some brine from the original Claussen Pickles that I had in my fridge and voila! Put the lid on and tuck them in the fridge for a week. Every day I gave the jar a good shake and turned it upside down to make sure the garlic cloves and spices got nicely distributed.
That's it! My friend Tiny Bird exclaimed "I didn't know you could make your own pickles!" when she tasted them and I didn't know until recently, either, but this is so easy it's stupid. Once I can get this recipe down to my version of perfection I'll ever need to buy pickles again. Not that pickles are, like, insanely expensive or something--I am not making my life easier or cheaper by doing this, but...it's FUN!
This is what they looked like after a week in the fridge. Basically the same, but not so white in color.
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ReplyDeleteLuscious Lekker: they gots Claussen's in S. Africa? or you've emigrated?
ReplyDeleteI started years ago trying to reproduce Claussen cold-pack pickles; the last few years I've been loving naturally fermented kosher dills done only in a brine (no vinegar). but this year (with fermented cukes still left from last winter) wanted to revisit the big C(claussen) vinegar pickles again. To that end...
I think your 1:1 vinegar/water ratio is probably way too high in vinegar, unless they taste great to you, in that case, that's all that matters. (though reading Cl. label, first ingredient is water, which would indicate more of that ingredient)
Here's the basic recipe I found several years back which is pretty close, see my notes after the paste:
---
Part I
3 parts distilled water (important), 1 part distilled white vinegar
(important), for every quart of this mixture add 2 tablespoons of
kosher, non iodized salt (important) in a glass container (important).
Part II
In quart jars put, 1/2 tsp minced dried garlic, 1/4 tsp yellow mustard
seed, 2-4 black peppercorns, 2-4 whole alspice, 1 to 1/2 whole dried
cayenne pepper, a pinch of dill seed, a pinch of dill weed, a
miniscule pinch of turmeric and either 1/4 tsp of sugar or a whole
carrot, washed, sliced (as you like them) cucumbers.
Part III
Now take the brine mixture from Part I and bring it to a boil. Pour
this mixture over the cucumbers and spices in the jars and seal. Put
them in the refrigerator: Ready in 7-10 days. Keeps 8 - 19 weeks.
Brine can be re used.
----
Notes:
1) I think that basic recipe needs more sweetener (white sugar, or your preference) to get this closer to Claussen flavor. Recipe as is tends to have a cloyish aftertaste I don't find if I take a shot of claussen brine direct to mouth.
2) I've learned you can continue to change the taste of pickles as they sit aging and developing. If after a week or month you think it's too vinegary, replace some brine with water. Too much salt?, add water, vinegar or mix. Want more garlic or chile punch? add that. This of course is not an option for for water-bath-sealed jars.
3) Claussen pickles -- as I remember them -- are not overly dill flavored. So unless your taste tends that direction, don't over do it up front. A few seeds, and maybe small sprig of fresh if it's handy.
4) Lately when using this recipe as the basis for almost-Claussen koshers, I bring the entire brine + spices to a simmer then let cool, but strain out the spices while pouring brine over cukes. Then I add new spices to each container. E.g., few black pep-corns, fresh or dried garlic bits, chiles, mustard seed, single allspice berry, and usually a couple coriander, few dill seeds, dill sprig.
Hi Wayno!
DeleteThanks for visiting, and for the recipe suggestions! I actually immigrated to the States about 12 years ago, so I don't know if Claussen has reached my home stomping grounds yet.
I tinkered with the recipe more a bit last weekend and lowered the vinegar content. The pinch of turmeric really does a long way towards getting the colour right, and I see you use cayenne pepper instead of the red pepper flakes that I opted for. I have concerns about pH balances when using distilled water, which is why I just use filtered...but I find your notes about using DRIED minced garlic very interesting indeed. I'd like to give your tips a whirl the next time I have a batch to mix up--thank you SO much for the suggestions! :)
G
Ms. G.,
DeleteDid you have any especially memorable pickles back in SA? Commercial or otherwise?
-- = --
That was a pasted recipe (not mine, but one I work from when trying for Claussen'ish fridge pkls), so everything in that recipe doesn't come from my invention. I go with dried flake/whole spices for this style pickle because flavor is same, less chance of scurvy bacteria coming in, and well… the jars look more like the market claussens. :-)
Good to worry about PH, but much more so when doing long term canning. If you're making fresh pack stuff for your own use that goes right to cold storage, you'll be OK. Just trust your senses. Slime, foul odors or tastes, throw out the jar/batch. I worried about that when making cases of hot sauce for long term storage, but having settled into a routine of making a quart or couple woozie bottles of hot sauce, I don't worry about it (short of introducing fruits or too much fresh, low-PH ingredient).
Ignore the reference to Cayenne in that recipe. Any dried chile you like is perfect. My last batch I used dried whole de arbols, as well as some slices of fresh red habanero that were on hand. I also included some dried red (sweet) bell pepper, since I had them. There's no end of warnings about fresh garlic, particularly in oil mixtures, but do your homework, be smart, use senses.
Turmeric is kind of classic pickling addition in small very small amounts. Yes, color. it also has complementary flavor; powdered spices cloud your brine… As great as horseradish pickles taste, friends may be put off by the floaters it adds. whatever. But whole cloves, allspice, cinnamon are preferred for pickling. Also, quite common to use a little bit of broken bay leaf. I add a small one per quart of brine during simmering, or else a half leaf or less added directly to the container.
-w
You know, W, I didn't discover pickles until I was in the States, and Claussen not for years and years after that. Honestly after trying Claussen I can't believe people still buy the hot brined stuff! Everyone I've ever introduced them to have been caught at first crunch and never looked back. :-}
DeleteHow often do you run into the slime or mold issues on pickles? I was warned left and right about white "fuzz" appearing on top of jars that weren't hot brined or those that didn't go through a water bath--but I've never bothered with either of those things and never had any problems.
Also with the fresh garlic--I was warned it would turn blue. Never seen that, either!
Thanks for the tip about bay leaf...had not considered that but that might offer the depth I am searching for. Also wondered about adding maybe a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar for depth/sugar?
xo,
G
I have a friend wanting me to make her some, she loves spicy but also wants them HOT. How hot are these?? Can I add some hot peppers and a dash of haberno sauce?
ReplyDelete