BILL’S EASY LOW-SODIUM SOUR SWEET DILL PICKLES


These pickles are not too sour and not too sweet and not too dill and 150 mg sodium per ounce including liquid. Jar says per 2 pickles. Sodium per pickle? There are about 13? pickles per jar.

 

36-oz jar of Kühne Barrel Pickles (Gherkins) ($6.99 @ Ralphs)

At least 9 ounces distilled white vinegar

 

1. Remove pickles from jar if slicing them.

2. Measure liquid in jar and discard all but 9 ounces, keeping sediment. Add 9 ounces of vinegar and mix.

3. Add spices to jar.

4. Quarter, halve or leave the pickles whole, and return them to jar.

5. Add pickle liquid to jar. Shake jar to mix and refrigerate.

6. The pickles are ready to eat in one day (quartered).

7. As pickles are eaten, add more vinegar if necessary to keep pickles covered by liquid. Shake jar occasionally and keep refrigerated.

8. When original pickles are eaten, reuse pickling solution by adding quartered cooked pickling cucumbers. See recipe for my no-salt sour dills.

 

Batch 1 (2015Jul31): Original pickles 1/3 quartered, 1/3 halved, 1/3 whole. Note how long each takes to pickle. Added 2 teaspoons dill seed.

Quarters took 1 day. Halves took 2 days. Wholes took 7+ days.

Batch 2 (2015Aug12): Added 1 tablespoon dill seed and 1 teaspoon mustard seed. Quartered 1 and halved the rest.

 

Ideas:

  1. Add more dill and/or mustard seed.

  2. Add bay leaves.

  3. Add whole peppers.

 

Note 1: 2015Jul29: Per step 7, added cooked quartered pickling cucumbers to above liquid and they were good after a week.