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For those who do know me, know that I am a bit of a pickle junkie! Whether it be a midnight snack or served alongside another food item, my household goes through pickles at a scary rate. When given the task of pickling or fermenting a food item of choice, I just had to choose the classic route and make a plain old pickle to fulfill a void in myself. I had never taken the opportunity to experiment with pickling before (Other than eating some of my dads delicious homemade Asian styled pickle carrots and daikon), so I was a bit of a novice. With this in hand, I turned to the Internet and explored dozens of sites that gave me some helpful tips and ideas when it comes to making a dill pickle.
To start off I decided to use some small "Kirky Cucumbers", in which was one of the recommended cucumbers for pickling because of its coarse and rough exterior and its firm and crunchy interior. With a wide variety of options on how to pickle something, I was really intrigued with how adverse the options were, and how you could truly make each fermentation unique from one another.
Other than a good cucumber to pickle, the flavouring agents are also extremely important, and from my research it's almost entirely up to you! Dill seeds are what I noticed to be quite important when surfing the internet for good dill pickle recipes; so other than some dill seeds that I bought, I just used up some seeds and chillis that I had at home. In total I used black peppercorns, a bay leaf, some coriander seeds, and some dried Asian red chillis. I also diced up some cloves of garlic and placed everything into a container in which I would continue the pickling process.
To continue with the brining process of pickling something, the website I followed most suggested equal parts of a vinegar of choice and regular filtered water. I used regular vinegar because I like something really salty and placed everything into a jar. It's recommended that the longer the cucumbers are in the brine and flavouring, the better results; however I did have a taste of one of my pickles after leaving them in the fridge for approximately two and a half days.
The cucumbers had not changed in any way or colour, however at first instance of opening the container, I got a giant swish of a vinegary* scent. It was almost overpowering my nose in a sense that could not be handled. I knew that I had either not put equal parts, or that I should have put less of the vinegar because of its acidity and strength. Biting into the pickle was pleasantly surprising, because I could already taste an abundance of the flavouring agents throughout my mouth, however I did indeed get an overpowering taste of vinegar. To aid this problem, I decided to add more water into my jar and kind of even out the playing field to make the taste more tolerable. I could taste hints of garlic and dill, however I didn't really get a taste of spice or heat yet; although I think that it might come into play with a longer time in the brine. Next time I would maybe experiment with a different type of cucumber, such as a Persian cucumber that was also suggested, and many other flavouring agents. Overall, I really enjoyed this experiment and will definitely be pickling other vegetables in the future; the idea of being able to adjust flavours to my likings, adding or reducing saltiness, and other unique benefits of pickling on my own made the experience all the more memorable and enjoyable.
To start off I decided to use some small "Kirky Cucumbers", in which was one of the recommended cucumbers for pickling because of its coarse and rough exterior and its firm and crunchy interior. With a wide variety of options on how to pickle something, I was really intrigued with how adverse the options were, and how you could truly make each fermentation unique from one another.
Other than a good cucumber to pickle, the flavouring agents are also extremely important, and from my research it's almost entirely up to you! Dill seeds are what I noticed to be quite important when surfing the internet for good dill pickle recipes; so other than some dill seeds that I bought, I just used up some seeds and chillis that I had at home. In total I used black peppercorns, a bay leaf, some coriander seeds, and some dried Asian red chillis. I also diced up some cloves of garlic and placed everything into a container in which I would continue the pickling process.
To continue with the brining process of pickling something, the website I followed most suggested equal parts of a vinegar of choice and regular filtered water. I used regular vinegar because I like something really salty and placed everything into a jar. It's recommended that the longer the cucumbers are in the brine and flavouring, the better results; however I did have a taste of one of my pickles after leaving them in the fridge for approximately two and a half days.
The cucumbers had not changed in any way or colour, however at first instance of opening the container, I got a giant swish of a vinegary* scent. It was almost overpowering my nose in a sense that could not be handled. I knew that I had either not put equal parts, or that I should have put less of the vinegar because of its acidity and strength. Biting into the pickle was pleasantly surprising, because I could already taste an abundance of the flavouring agents throughout my mouth, however I did indeed get an overpowering taste of vinegar. To aid this problem, I decided to add more water into my jar and kind of even out the playing field to make the taste more tolerable. I could taste hints of garlic and dill, however I didn't really get a taste of spice or heat yet; although I think that it might come into play with a longer time in the brine. Next time I would maybe experiment with a different type of cucumber, such as a Persian cucumber that was also suggested, and many other flavouring agents. Overall, I really enjoyed this experiment and will definitely be pickling other vegetables in the future; the idea of being able to adjust flavours to my likings, adding or reducing saltiness, and other unique benefits of pickling on my own made the experience all the more memorable and enjoyable.