What are you canning now?

[mickey328]

Thanks! I appreciate the good vibes

 

[gardendufus]

So, I'm crocking dills for the first time (Deli Dills, previously posted here I think). The instructions are to remove the scum that forms daily. So every day I take a spoon and remove the obvious layer of scum that has formed. But after that, there are teeny tiny pieces of scum that if you drag the spoon through kinda gather and you can tell it's the same stuff, but it seems almost impossible to get it all.

Is there an easier (better) way to get this off? Is it even necessary to get ALL of it, or do they mean just the major scum layer?

 

[mickey328]

They just mean the major...seems there's always a little bit you can't catch!. Sometimes I use a paper towel for stuff like that. Just float it very gently on top and the ick will stick to it and come out when you lift it.

 

[gardendufus]

Thanks Mickey. I had tried a paper towel, but I was swishing it (well, slowly swishing) through the liquid and it just seemed to be moving it around. I'll try the laying it on top. Altho I haven't been too worried cuz I was getting the major stuff.

I suppose that even tho I hate dill pickles I will have to try one just to make sure I don't poison my friends. But since I don't like them anyway, how am I supposed to know if they are any good? Hehehehe

 

[mickey328]

LOL...test on someone else! Or...try one and wait 24 hrs. Leave a note that if you're dead or deathly ill, they should throw 'em out

 

[gardendufus]

LOL...test on someone else! Or...try one and wait 24 hrs. Leave a note that if you're dead or deathly ill, they should throw 'em out

That's too funny. I kind of figured if they were 'spoiled' I would get sick and die. But what if they just aren't 'good' dill pickles. But you have a point - I'll eat one and see if I die. If I don't I'll ask my neighbor to eat one and tell me if it's any 'good' (tastewise).

 

[MsBagawkbagawk]

Quote:
you can send me some and I'll tell you what I think. You might have to send a few jars though.

 

[Pozees]

you can send me some and I'll tell you what I think. You might have to send a few jars though.

LOL you beat me to the punch

Speaking of dill pickles, what I really like are the itty bitty baby dills, and was toying with the idea of trying to make some this year, but I can't find any itty bitty pickling cukes, anyone seen any near Pueblo/Colorado Springs for sale? Next year I'm going to try growing them again, first try (last year) was a dismal failure, but I attribute that to a complete lack of time due to finishing school while working, coupled with zero experience growing them. Throw in a last minute decision to plant a single pumpkin plant in the same bed, which I had never grown, that turned into The Plant That Ate The Garden, and the only ones I ever could find were enormous and yellow and very tough.

Interested in any recommendations for which variety to plant.

 

[MsBagawkbagawk]

Now I want pickles!!!! Yeah those tiny ones are the best. Ya know, I NEVER EVER EVER TOUCHED pickles until I was like 8, then I decided they were so good I ate like half a jar that night. Ugh, I got so sick afterwards, but it was soooo worth it...............

 

[mickey328]

I've never had much luck growing cukes myself. I prefer the ones that are about 3" long and fairly straight, and it's tough to get enough all at once to do a batch. I think you'd have to put in quite a number of plants to get that many and you'd need to pick them often when they start producing. They also need quite a lot of water. I have better luck buying them. We went to Palumbo's last year (in Brighton) and were able to pick through what they had to get a lot that were the size we like. I have a super easy recipe for dills that can be done a jar at a time rather than making a big batch of brine, but I just went ahead and did all of them...bread & butter, whole dills, sliced dills and sweet pickles. LOL, did so many we still have quite a lot left.