[CH] Cold Pickle recipe wanted and update on this year's Amber Brew

danceswithcarp (dcombs@bloomington.in.us)
Sat, 08 Jul 2000 15:24:50 -0500 

Does anyone have a cold pickle recipe, like Clausen's?   I made some once 
using a "Kosher Dill" recipe that required some kind of black bread in a 
crock, but I can't find it.

Also, yesterday at our Sam's Club (Like a CosCo) we saw "Foodsaver Vacuum 
Packaging System" that sucked the air out of bags and then sealed 
them.  The machine had an attachment that somehow sealed canning jars.  The 
vacuum seal on the jars was tight and I couldn't pull the lid off with my 
fingers and when the sales guy used a bottle opener to pop the top there 
was an audible rush of air into the jar as the seal broke.

Has anyone used one of these?   If I were to use one to seal cold pickles 
in their brine would I be tempting death?

How does Clausen's seal their jars without cooking the pickle?

Also this week we got a 5 gallon crock to use in making The Brew so we 
could have more room. This year's batch has about 2 gallons of Brew that's 
been aging for 1 & 1/2 years, and 3 gallons that's been aging for 7 
months.   The younger stuff is mostly Red Savina (from M2W plants) in 
vinegar and the older stuff is mostly regular habs from the local 
greenhouses.  I mixed the two in the 5 gallon crock and it filled right to 
the brim so I took a pint of the mix out for table-use to give it some 
headroom.   The new mix is *awesome.*  It is a very hot and salty vinegar 
sauce with a garlic hint, and the initial heat is a mouth-flash and you 
think, "Uh-oh.  This may be uncomfortable"  Then in a matter of seconds the 
blast leaves--unlike any other chile sauce I've ever had; kind of like 
horseradish does to your sinuses--and it is as mellow as the original 
Brew.  The color isn't as purple as in the past and right now it is an 
amber much like beeeeer.

We're trying to have it bottled by JC & M2W this winter and we'll have 
around 150 bottles.  If it keeps the color it'll be called "Amber Brew."

But right now I need the cold pickle information.


carpo