Refrigerator pickles

6-8 cups pickle cucumbers. Regular cukes can be used too if you peel and seed them. Slice however you like.
1 c vinegar
3 c water
1 medium onion sliced thin
2 cloves garlic
3 T kosher or caning salt
1 head dill
1 t mustard seeds
10-15 peppercorns
1/2 t red pepper flakes

These are delicious and last a long time in the fridge. We finished last years pickles a few weeks ago.

Sounds good, I’ll have to try some.

I am about to make some fridge pickles out of a bunch of kolrabi we grew this year. Thinking the spicier the better!

So, mix all ingredients cold and place in jar? Or boil-cool first?

-J.

Jon Jordan wrote:

So, mix all ingredients cold and place in jar? Or boil-cool first?

-J.

I guess I left that part out.

I make them either way. If it’s my first batch and we’re going to eat them quickly I don’t boil. If it’s the big batch that’s going to sit in the fridge for 6 months I boil-cool the brine to try to sterilize it… although with that much salt and vinegar I doubt any microbes will survive even if you don’t boil.

I’ve had old timers tell me that they put up pickled cukes and peppers without processing them and have never had them go bad due to the high salt/acid content. Without processing, they stay nice and crisp. But I don’t can much and don’t know if they’re right or just lucky.

Sounds good. Had something similar to this from the deli recently. Very good stuff! No shortage of cucumbers right now. Might toss in a few cherry tomatoes too.

-J.

These sound really good and easy enough to be worth a shot. A friend of mine makes pickled green beans that sound like they might be very similar – they have just enough kick and are awesome!

Anyone ever try this with green beans? I might have to give it a shot…

Thanks,
Dave

I’ve used the same method on green beans (with dill), and hot peppers/banana peppers (skip the dill) with good success.

Thanks Jake, I’ll have to give that a try.

Dave

Ok, I just put up 3 pints of green beans to give this a try. Any suggestions on how long to let them sit before we dig into them?

Basically followed the recipie but forgot to add the onions and replaced the dill with jalapeños. The brine was just enought to fill 3 pint jars stuffed with beans so that is where I stopped for now.

Thanks,
Dave

Cukes taste “pickle-ish” in a day or two (I always have to do some sampling), but take about a week to get really good. If I remember correctly, green beans take a bit longer.

What I think makes em good is that their not processed. When I’ve tried making processed peppers/green beans/pickles I always feel that they are too mushy.

for green beans to keep their pretty green color it is best to quick blanch then ice water bath before adding to the jar. Unless you are keep cukes/pickles outside of the fridge, there’s no need to process.