Val

The Scoop on Pickle Crisp

But I think I must have mismeasured or done something terribly wrong this year. Every single jar of sliced pickles, whole pickles, and even the dilly beans, tastes "funny". They have a very bitter and tart aftertaste. I'm so disappointed. The only thing different this year was the calcium chloride.

In some batches I added it straight to the jar. In other batches, I added it to the brine. And I thought I was careful to measure as per the instructions I read here.

They are crisp though. :-/

CaCl adds only a bit of salty aftertaste if over-used but cukes, depending on the variety and the growing conditions, are notorious for turning bitter. It varies from year to year depending on soil moisture levels. Inconsistent soil moisture levels = bitter cukes and older cukes, especially slicing varieties, will almost always turn bitter and cloying.

Best results come from using only home-grown, pickling varieties only, fresh from the vine, and pre-tasted prior to using for pickles. There is alot of truth to the old adage "from vine to jar in less than 12 hours". ;)

Dave

PS: Val - thanks for posting the info. I hope it happens although Ball's story at the time was "lost supplier". I had been nagging Mrs. Wages to come out with a similar product for over a year now with no results.