# Fix my pickles!



## LivinGreen (Mar 26, 2013)

I made bunch pickles and they taste GROSS! Im pretty sure it was the pickling spice. SO...
Can I fix them by redoing the pickling solutiion and recanning them? Should boil or brine them to get rid of the bad flavor?
Please Help!


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

What was your recipe? What was the vegitable that you pickled? Some more details would be great for some of our pickle-masters to be able to help some more.

Personally, I know very little about pickling, but, I do know that yesterday was my first batch ever!


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## LivinGreen (Mar 26, 2013)

Good for you Naekid! I was thrilled when I did my first batch. Its addictive.
I pickled cucumber spears, and the recipe said to use 2Tbs pickling spice.My first batch I left the spice in the juice, the 2nd batch I used half (1Tbs) and put it in a cheesecloth bag. Those still tasted bad. Im thinkin about leaving out any pickling spice. 
What does anybody else do? Use it or not?


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## oldasrocks (Jun 30, 2012)

Trick we learned for having crisp pickles. Put a couple leaves off a cherry tree in the jar.

Don't have any idea how to fix the bad taste but recommend to start over as I'm guessing the taste went through the cucumbers.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Was the problem that you dont like the taste of the pickling spice or is there some other issue with the taste?

What vinegar/water ratio did you use?

What kind of vinegar did you use?

Were the cucumbers "pickling cucumbers" or another verity?

How much salt did you use per jar?

How did you seal the jars?

You need to keep in mind that the more you "re-work" the cucumbers, the softer they're going to get, the less heat you use while making the pickles the better they will taste.

You can skip the spices all together and just make a "sour" pickle or you could try using dill instead, garlic and a sliced jalapeno pepper will make a world of difference in the taste.

You could try adding sugar(to taste) to the pickle recipe, the sugar can mask a lot of issues and sweet polish or dill style pickles can be pretty good.

Soaking the pickles in fresh water will(as you stated) "leech" out a lot of the flavor so you can start over but IMO starting with fresh cucumbers(if you have them) would be the better way to go.

If you think the pickles you made are just too far gone, you can chop/grind them and mix with chopped or ground cabbage and/or green tomatoes and make a relish flavored with your new spice mix.

An important thing to remember is that even though you didn't like the pickles you made, it shouldn't be considered a failure. You now know what you dont like and the next batch you do can always be with a different recipe.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

I just did a quick search on pickling-spice and found at AllRecipes something that might help you figure out if there might be a particular spice in the mix that might be the one flavor you don't like.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/homemade-pickling-spice/

MustardSeeds - AllSpice - Coriander - RedPepper Flakes - Ginger - BayLeaf - Cinnamon - Cloves

I will attach a .pdf from the site so that you can reprint if you wish.


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

oldasrocks said:


> Trick we learned for having crisp pickles. Put a couple leaves off a cherry tree in the jar.


I'd recommend using muscadine or grape leaves as a crisping agent.

Refer to my post here about cherry leaves.

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f35/down-farm-19536/index3.html
"If you have goats&#8230; be careful of peach leaves and cherry leaves (Prunus sp). In the fall hydrocyanic compounds (cyanide) concentrate in the leaves. It doesn't seem to bother cattle but a friend lost several goats a few years ago."

Back in the day cough syrup tasted like cherries because cherry was used for these cyanic compounds. An expectorant, they dull the cough reflex. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1033732/


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

You can keep your pickles crisp by 

1. Using whole cucumbers and 

2. By pouring your boiling vinegar directly into the jars of cucumbers(leaving no hedspace) and putting the lids on and not water bathing them. The jars will seal as they cool.

If you do use an ingredient to keep them crisp, avoid alum - it works well but contains aluminum.


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## LivinGreen (Mar 26, 2013)

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I dont have the recipe here to pass on the mix as I am out hunting deer, but Naekid mentioned cloves and I cant stand them so thats probably it.
I like the idea of hitting them w some new boiling juice. I not discouraged, just wanna save my produce. Ill probably play w a garlic jalapeno and peppercorn combo, bein I like those.
So you dont have to use the picklin gb spice -right


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

Well this thread isn't what I thought. I was just gonna tell you to get viagara or cialis since they have the most commercials of happy old guys but this thread is about eatin pickles. So never mind me.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

Make relish out of the "kerosene cucumbers"by adding pan minced onion and bell peppers.
covers the nasty aftertaste and you don't waste your work!

http://www.food.com/recipe/sweet-pickle-relish-130781


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

mojo4 said:


> Well this thread isn't what I thought. I was just gonna tell you to get viagara or cialis since they have the most commercials of happy old guys but this thread is about eatin pickles. So never mind me.


That did cross my mind but thought I'd give it a read anyway!lol


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

SIL was not feeling well, so we took them dinner.
She has her quart jars lining the top of her kitchen cabinets.
I noticed something that looked like beets?
She said no it is cucumber slices in red food coloring.
Ask if I would get a step ladder & bring a jar down to the table.
She ask that I open it & taste it, it is sweet, not like cucumbers or pickles at all.
She gave me the jar of delight, but could not find the recipe.
Anyone know the name of this ??? jar of delight?:scratch
Hopefully I can get the recipe from her when she cans in the late Spring.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

crabapple said:


> SIL was not feeling well, so we took them dinner.
> She has her quart jars lining the top of her kitchen cabinets.
> I noticed something that looked like beets?
> She said no it is cucumber slices in red food coloring.
> ...


I've heard of pickle recipes that use "Kool-Aid", never tried it but you may be able to use that to search for a recipe.


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