We're having another bumper year of mini cucumbers for gherkin making. And now encountering a problem I thought we had overcome last year. But we haven't.
Before placing the gherkins into their sweetened vinegar, we have been covering them in salt for 24 hours to remove much of the moisture, as instructed in various reciepes. There are kept whole. However, we are ending up with gherkins which look shrivelled and are soft and squishy and not particularly pleasant to eat.
We have only done one jar so far so we haven't lost the whole crop yet.
Any advice would be appreciated as gherkins are one of our big culinary pleasures come winter.
Gherkin problem
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
Hello Chrisanddan
I've never done this sort of thing before but as I had our WI preserving book out (checking up on what to do with our amazing crop of apricots this year - most years we only get about a dozen fruits) I looked up pickled gherkins. They suggest starting by washing the gherkins, prick lightly with a stainless steel fork then soak in a brine solution for 72 hours. The brine is made by dissolving 500g salt in 4.5 litres water (1lb salt to 1 gal of water).
It sounds from what you say that you are covering the gherkins in dry salt and I guess that this is withdrawing much of the water from the gherkins giving you a squishy mess.
Hope this helps.
John
I've never done this sort of thing before but as I had our WI preserving book out (checking up on what to do with our amazing crop of apricots this year - most years we only get about a dozen fruits) I looked up pickled gherkins. They suggest starting by washing the gherkins, prick lightly with a stainless steel fork then soak in a brine solution for 72 hours. The brine is made by dissolving 500g salt in 4.5 litres water (1lb salt to 1 gal of water).
It sounds from what you say that you are covering the gherkins in dry salt and I guess that this is withdrawing much of the water from the gherkins giving you a squishy mess.
Hope this helps.
John
The Gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men’s lives, the hours spent fishing Assyrian tablet
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
-
chrisanddan
- KG Regular
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- Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2008 2:24 pm
Thanks for that. I'll try it. It seems to make more sense than just dragging out all the water.
The rest of the recipe says:
"Drain and pack into warm bottles. Cover with boiling spiced vinegar and cover tightly. Leave in a warm room for 24 hours.
Drain off the vinegar and bring it to the boil again. Pour the boiling vinegar back over the gherkins, seal and keep in a warm room for a further 24 hours.
Repeat the boiling and draining process once again, at the end of which the gherkins should be a good overall green.
Add more vinegar, if necessary, and seal the bottles.
Ready for eating after 6 weeks."
Is this similar to your recipe?
DW swears by these old WI recipes in her book. She reckons that they've been well tested in real kitchens and never fail.
Happy eating.
John
"Drain and pack into warm bottles. Cover with boiling spiced vinegar and cover tightly. Leave in a warm room for 24 hours.
Drain off the vinegar and bring it to the boil again. Pour the boiling vinegar back over the gherkins, seal and keep in a warm room for a further 24 hours.
Repeat the boiling and draining process once again, at the end of which the gherkins should be a good overall green.
Add more vinegar, if necessary, and seal the bottles.
Ready for eating after 6 weeks."
Is this similar to your recipe?
DW swears by these old WI recipes in her book. She reckons that they've been well tested in real kitchens and never fail.
Happy eating.
John
The Gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men’s lives, the hours spent fishing Assyrian tablet
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
-
chrisanddan
- KG Regular
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2008 2:24 pm
I thik you need the patience of a saint to go through that whole process. i reckon we'll try the 72 hours brining.
The problem is that we're picking daily and taking off 4 or 5 at a time. Bottling piecemeal.
The problem is that we're picking daily and taking off 4 or 5 at a time. Bottling piecemeal.