My wife and I are pickling again for the first time in years. Mostly because our vegetable garden has done really well this year, but also because I’m cheap. Pickled beets are expensive at the store and never go on sale, so I rarely buy them. I’d rather grow them and pickle them myself.
The first time I pickled beets I learned a big lesson. WEAR GLOVES! I had bright red hands and forearms for weeks afterwards.. No amount of soap and scrubbing would remove that red beet stain. But the pickled beets were sooo good!
Our regular pickles were not that great, though. Even though we followed all the tips and recipes for pickles, they got soft and lacked the crunch that so many of the pickle manufacturers brag about in their ads.
So here is what I’ve tried so far:
1/we use small firm cukes
2/we soak them in an ice water bath overnight
3/we cut off the blossom end of the pickle (just an eighth of an inch)
We still got soft pickles.
This year we’re going to try Bernardin Pickle Crisp (it’s just overpriced food grade Calcium Chloride)
Anyone got any tips on whether this stuff works or any other suggestions for crispy pickles?
