Hi Emily, to many people sour pickles means fermented pickles, in which vinegar is traditionally omitted and a crucial balance of salt & water creates the right conditions for the bacteria that produce lactic acid, which makes the pickles sour. Modern canning recipes for fermented pickles usually use a small amount of vinegar to tip the balance in favor of the good guys (protecting against spoilage).

Dill pickles can be any pickles with dill in them, so both fermented and "fresh pack" (preserved by vinegar & salt only, no lactic acid) can be dill pickles, but in canning lingo I think dill pickles usually means fresh pack (vinegar).

Confused yet? For more on fermented pickles, see the discussion in the thread linked below. For a fresh pack recipe, search this forum for "quick fresh pack" or the "Heinz" recipe.

Vinegar-based pickles may be easier to start with, but if you follow the directions precisely, the approved fermented recipes are totally safe. You can tell the salt concentration is right if the brine tastes sweet instead of salty, but this takes some getting used to so I suggest starting with a tested recipe. If you like deli-style sour pickles, look for the fermented recipes. Good luck & report back or search the forum if you have more questions.

Melissa

Here is a link that might be useful: salty fermented dill pickle thread

Thanks Melissa -- this was very helpful, as was the thread! One last question that didn't seem answered in that thread... I saw some people refrigerated the pickles after fermentation, while some recipes called for bwb canning after fermentation. If I canned them, could I then just store them on a shelf until ready to eat them? Space in my fridge is perilously low -- which of course is why I want to do something with the cukes that are filling it up at the moment!

Em

Yes, sure. That's the benefit of canning. Try to keep them in an area where the temperature doesn't fluctuate too much from summer to winter.

Carol

The half sours I like are a salt water brine type that is only sitting in this salt water brine at room temps for maybe 1-2 days, then get refrigerated along with the addition of a small amount of white vinegar, which will halt ant further fermentation. A sour pickle, such as the ones from a deli are usually a totally vinegar based type, with a bit of salt added, but no water. To get these to really give some additional sourness, they still use some alum in them to more pucker power. If you see a yellowish color brine thats usually due to the addition of some turmeric for the color only. You can ferment with salt brine too, but they must be monitored for the proper amount of time, plus must have the proper ratio of salt and water. I do my half sours by taste (like a Claussen refrigerator type), and can tell when there is too much or too little salt mixed with the water. Too much becomes bitter, too little and its salty. Just enough salt and your taste buds tend to be 'tricked' into it being almost mouth watering sweet. I do the same with vinegar and salt as a brine when I make my pepperoncini. I was told by people that I add sugar to the vinegar, when it fact none has been added and its just straight 5% white distilled vinegar and pickling salt with not single granule of sugar added. If you want dill flavor, add sprigs of fresh dill weed and seed heads, also garlic if you care to have it like a kosher dill type.

Hi ksrogers --

Now you are confusing me again, since when I looked at the Ba-Tampte sour pickles in the deli case, they had no vinegar in the ingredients at all. I take it from the rest of this thread that the sourness is produced just from the lactic acid.

Emily

Yes, thats the fermented type that is started in a salt brine and allowed to bubble for several weeks, as mentioned in another thread. The ones I see that are sour are in those big gallon jars and are in a yellow vinegar brine. Essentially, there are several types of 'sour' pickles, and some use the salt water brine while the other uses a vinegar brine.