The Best Ever Deli-Style Sour Pickles Recipe. Ever. Seriously. - Garden Therapy (2024)

Tags canning, Month July Week 3, pickles

If you like old-fashioned fermented sour pickles then you will want to learn this recipe. Real deli-style pickles cost around $7 per jar in my area, but I can make 10 pounds of organic sour pickles for just $20! I did not invent this recipe, but it seems to be the most commonly used methodology out there and it works every time without fail. The pickles are garlicky, crunchy, and delightfully sour.The Best Ever Deli-Style Sour Pickles Recipe. Ever. Seriously. - Garden Therapy (1)

Many years ago I acquired some beautiful old pickling crocks and I was eager to put them to use. After lugging home a giant bag of fresh cukes, I followed a recipe for pickling them in the crock. It was a disaster. My brine turned into a stinky, moldy mess and the cucumbers turned out soggy. I ended up throwing out the whole batch, discouraged.

Each year, I would see ten-pound bags of pickling cucumbers and a bouquet of dill in the arms of people leaving the farmers’ market. Green with envy, I asked the market vendor to please give me some tips on making sour pickles so I could try again. I did my best to remember the recipe and ran home to try it right away. I’m so glad that I did because this is now my go-to pickle recipe that I can’t wait to make year after year.

The Best Ever Deli-Style Sour Pickles Recipe. Ever. Seriously. - Garden Therapy (2)

Ingredients

Makes 10 quart-size jars, adjust recipe accordingly

  • 10 pounds fresh-picked pickling cucumbers
  • 2/3 cup ofkosher salt
  • 16 cups of boiling water (non-chlorinated or filtered)
  • 8 cups cold water (non-chlorinated or filtered)
  • 10 clovesof fresh garlic
  • A bunch of fresh, flowering dill
  • 5 teaspoonscoriander seed
  • 5 teaspoons whole black pepper
  • 10 chili peppers (optional)

Equipment

The Best Ever Deli-Style Sour Pickles Recipe. Ever. Seriously. - Garden Therapy (3)

Make it!

  1. The key to crunchy pickles is to be sure that you are using very fresh cucumbers. They should go from farm to canning jar in no more than 24 hours and it’s essential to keep them chilled if you aren’t pickling right away. Size doesn’t matter for flavor, just for preference.
  2. Fill the sink with cold water and wash the cucumbers well. Remove any discolored, bruised, or soft cucumbers. Be sure to get cucumbers that are not waxed.
  3. To make the brine, bring 20 cups of water to a boil and add 2/3 cup of kosher salt. It’s important to use water that is non-chlorinated or filtered because you don’t want the minerals or chlorine to prevent fermentation.
  4. Stir the salt to dissolve. Set the brine aside to cool while you pack the jars.
  5. A cucumber has two different ends, thestem and the blossom end. Cut the blossom end off the cucumbers, or cut off both if you can’t figure it out. You can also slice the cucumbers if you choose. I like them whole.
  6. Divide the garlic, dill flowers, dill leaves, spices, and optional chili peppers among the jars.
  7. Pack the cucumbers into the jars tightly, leaving enough headspace that the brine will cover the them. The idea is to pack them into to jar so tightly that they won’t float up when the brine is added. You can also press a cucumber lengthwise across the upright pickles to pin them down.
  8. Add the cold water to the brine to cool it down more. It should be room temperature before pouring it on the cucumbers.
  9. When cool, pour the brine over the cucumbers, herbs, and spices. Screw a plastic canning lid loosely onto the jar and set them on a counter to ferment.
  10. “Burp” the pickles daily by loosening the cap and letting the air escape, then replacing the lid (loosely) again.
  11. After three days, check the pickles for flavor. Keep fermenting them on the counter until you get the sourness you like, then move them to the fridge to slow down the process. Consume the pickles within a month.

The Best Ever Deli-Style Sour Pickles Recipe. Ever. Seriously. - Garden Therapy (4)

You May Also Like These Pickling Recipes:

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  • My Famous Pickled Golden Beets with Ginger and Star Anise
  • Tarragon Pickled Beets
  • These Printable Canning Labels are the Essential Party Dress for Your Jam!

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Comments

  1. Plastic jars or glass jars? Which are you using?

    Reply

  2. I am just doing a batch of these today and hoping they work out. Is the refrigerator best for storing them (I can’t each all within a month and want some mid winter and spring). You mentioned in responding above to another comment that they could be stored in a cool place… so I am guessing it does not have to be the frig., correct?

    Reply

    • Hi Terry, yes, the fridge is best after the original ferment.

      Reply

  3. So, you’re saying you have to eat 10 quarts of pickles within a month? I think not.

    Reply

  4. Can I divide this down to a 2 quart recipe?

    Reply

    • yes

      Reply

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The Best Ever Deli-Style Sour Pickles Recipe. Ever. Seriously. - Garden Therapy (2024)

FAQs

What makes deli pickles so good? ›

Historically, deli pickles are saltier and prepared with garlic. As Freddie Jansen writes in her book, "Pickled," the New York Jewish deli pickles are immersed in saltwater brine instead of being fermented in vinegar. The deli pickle recipe starts with slicing cucumbers and putting them in a jar.

What makes a pickle more sour? ›

Sour pickles are one of the pleasantly sour types of pickles that are actually lacto-fermented instead of pickled. This means that there is no vinegar in their brine like in a dill pickle brine, and instead solely relies on salt, water, and time to achieve the desired flavor.

What's the difference between sour pickles and regular pickles? ›

The biggest difference between dill and sour pickles is that the former includes fresh dill weed (and occasionally dill seeds or oil) for a boost of herby flavor. Also, dill pickles nowadays are typically vinegar-based, while sour pickles are always fermented in a salt brine.

Why are half sour pickles so good? ›

Because of the short brining time the cucumbers don't get completely pickled, though don't taste raw anymore either. Half sour pickles are the best of the two worlds - they retain perfect fresh crunch, sweetness and, sometimes, natural green color too, while acquiring light pickled taste and saltiness.

Why are restaurant pickles so good? ›

Some restaurants make their own. Others will take pickling cukes and “half-pickle” them, which takes a few days, rather than weeks to months, in a brine that may combine their leftover commercial brine and a few touches of their own (more garlic, more heat, more sweet, more clove, more dill, etc.).

What is the secret of pickles? ›

Here are 10 tips for crunchy pickles:
  • Choose Freshly Harvested Cucumbers. As soon as cucumbers are picked, the softening process begins. ...
  • Use the Right Cucumber Varieties. ...
  • Cut off the Ends of Cucumbers. ...
  • Soak Cucumbers in Ice Water. ...
  • Use Calcium Chloride. ...
  • Add a Source of Tannin. ...
  • Use Enough Salt. ...
  • Don't Add Bacteria.

What is the most sour pickle? ›

Our Warheads flavored pickle is an extreme sour pickle! No sugar coating here! We packed all the sour flavor we could into this WARHEADS Extreme Sour Dill Pickle, built for super sour fanatics. Available in Jumbo size.

What percentage brine is a full sour pickle? ›

A traditional full sour pickle had a brine strength of between 5-10%; a 5% brine is about as salty as you would want to eat, these days, and it is made of roughly 3 TBS of salt per quart.

Why are best maid pickles so sour? ›

What's the secret? Only the best combination of cucumbers, water, vinegar, and salt that combine with other natural flavorings to bring you the best sour pickle. Tart, tangy, salty, and especially sour, Best Maid Sour Pickles deliver the flavor and the crunch you love.

What is the 321 method of pickling? ›

An easy pickling recipe to follow is the 3-2-1 method; three parts water, two parts vinegar, and one part sugar. This 3-2-1 pickle brine is on the sweeter side, making it great for bread and butter pickles or spicy pickled beets. For a more savory pickle, use less sugar.

What kind of pickles does Chick-fil-A use? ›

But Why Are Its Pickles So Good? It turns out that the pickles Chick-fil-A gets from Bay Valley are a little different from standard pickles. The company selects cucumbers specifically for size and texture, of course, but what really makes the difference is the brine.

What kind of pickles do firehouse subs use? ›

Our Kosher Pickles are the real Dill.

Are deli pickles good for you? ›

Pickles are a good source of beta carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A, Zumpano adds. Vitamin A supports healthy vision and immune function, per the Cleveland Clinic. Vitamin K is good for the bones, says Largeman-Roth, and plays a key role in blood-clotting and wound-healing.

What flavor are deli pickles? ›

Eastern European pickles heap on the dill. Bread and butter pickles toss sugar and celery seed in the mix. And deli pickles? We bet you'll taste some garlic, a lot of salt, and maybe some chili pepper.

Why are refrigerated pickles better? ›

Even in two hours, pickles' texture can start to change. Warm temperatures cause pickles to soften and lose their crunchy texture. Keeping them cool keeps them crisp. Fridge-cold temperatures prevent mold and yeast from forming in the pickle jar, but other factors can affect the contents, too.

Are deli pickles fermented? ›

Are Pickles Fermented? Quick pickles are not fermented, but lacto-fermented pickles are fermented. Quick pickles, the most common type of pickle found in grocery stores, are not fermented because they use an acid, such as vinegar, in their pickling brine.

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