On 6/12/2010 5:44 PM, Kathi Jones wrote:
> "George > wrote in message
> ...
>> On 6/11/2010 10:29 AM, The Wolf wrote:
>>> On 6/11/10 6:37 AM, in article
>>> , "Melba's Jammin'"
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> In article<PZKdnbRRiPrg3IzRnZ2dnUVZ_qydnZ2d@giganews. com>,
>>>> George > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Just got in from the local Kroger store. Bought a bunch of used meat at
>>>>> a good price and found Pickle Crisp in the canning section, looks to be
>>>>> a whole case. If anyone can't find it where they live drop me an email
>>>>> and I can probably mail it to you cheaper than eBay or Amazon can.
>>>>>
>>>>> They have definitely changed the formulation, it is now in little
>>>>> granules versus a fine powder, therefore the lesser amounts now called
>>>>> for on the jar would probably turn out to be the same as the old one if
>>>>> the granules were crushed to a powder in the mortar. Pretty expensive
>>>>> stuff though, US$6.29 per 5.5 ounce jar. Pretty much conforms to what I
>>>>> paid for the finely powdered stuff by the box on Amazon a couple of
>>>>> years ago.
>>>>>
>>>>> Just opened a quart of Dutch Luncheon spears I put up last year with
>>>>> pickle crisp in them. Cuke spears that barely fit in a quart jar are
>>>>> nice and crisp with a strong dill and garlic flavor overlaying the cuke
>>>>> flavor. Very good stuff.
>>>>
>>>> I seem to recall a survey question from Ball asking about the "format"
>>>> of the product -- what did I think about tablets? One for a pint, two
>>>> for a quart. I like the tablet idea.
>>>>
>>>> I can't decide if I want to get involved with the Pickle Crisp, Jorge.
>>>> I inadvertently planted a pickling cuke plant and have no idea what I'll
>>>> get from it. If I can't find it at Wally World, maybe I'll ask you to
>>>> send me some. Thanks for the information.
>>>>
>>> I bought a jar on amazon and was happy with the results. 1/2 tsp
>>> picklecrisp
>>> to 1/2 gallon of water.
>>>
>>> I found another site that uses grape leaves for making the pickles crisp.
>>>
>>> Anyone have an opinion on that?
>>>
>> Tried it once and went back to using pickling lime, not enough crispness
>> in using the grape leaves. YMMV
>
> many years ago, Ingrid "ma pickle' and I traded pickling lime for Certo...I
> got the pickling lime. I didn't like the results, they were weird. Kind of
> brittle. I've never used grape leaves. I've had good luck with the salting
> and icing and rinsing. REALLY fresh cukes matter - if they are limp or not
> crisp to begin with, there's no point (IMO) I'm looking forward to trying
> the Pickle Crisp, now that I have some.
>
> my 2 cents,
>
> kathi
>
>
Pickling lime always worked for me for the forty plus years I used it.
It's just a time problem, let pickles soak for 24 plus hours, rinse
umpteen(that's East Texas for many, many)times, then all the rest of
putting up pickles. And, like Kathi says, if you don't start with really
fresh cukes you're up the proverbial creek without a paddle. When I
started using pickle crisp I was very pleased and a recent taste test of
some pickled green beans, put up in early May, continued that pleasing
feeling.