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Kosher Full-Sour Pickles

Re: Kosher, Full-Sour Pickles...
From: Howard
Date: 9/10/2023, 8:21 AM
To: Phaedrus 

On 9/10/2023 2:03 AM, Howard wrote:

Dear Phaed,

I'm searching for an accurate recipe for Full-Sour, Kosher pickles, 
the kind I could purchase as a young lad in most any Jewish Deli in 
Philly, sometimes out of a barrel. These pickles impressed me as being 
fundamentally all-garlic, devoid of any notes of dill. The remainder 
of the spices, if any, remains a mystery to me.

I routinely make pickles using fresh-sliced garlic cloves, whole black 
pepper corns, whole coriander, and of course non-iodized salt. The taste 
is satisfying but does not rival the unique taste of the pickles of yesteryear.

If there's an authentic recipe out there, I'd sure like to have a copy.

Many thanks,
Howard

Hello Howard,

I've never had full-sour fermented kosher dill pickles, but I have enjoyed half-sours. We didn't have many Jewish Delis in the Deep South where I grew up. I could probably find some where I live now. I haven't looked.

After spending time this morning perusing the subject on the web, my main takeaway is that the only difference between half-sours and full-sours is in the amount of salt used and the length of fermentation time. The spices are the same, although there are small variations from recipe to recipe. So, if you have a half-sours recipe that you like, you can use it to make full-sours by increasing the salt concentration in the brine and increasing the fermentation time. You can find out the best salt concentration and fermentation time from the sites linked below.

You're probably thinking "Yeah, but that's not 'authentic.' I want an authentic recipe."

Well when you are searching for a recipe like this, you'll find a lot of them - until you include "authentic" as a search criteria. I found lots of instructions for making "full-sours", but when I put "authentic" in there, the number dropped to one, this one: Kosher Dill Pickles

These don't say "authentic," but they say "classic" or "artisan." They will give you an idea of how much salt to use and length of fermentation time:

Classic Sour Dill Pickles

Fermented Dill Pickles

Classic Sour Dills

I'd use one of these recipes, increase the salt concentration to what they call for for full-sours, and ferment them for 5 to 9 days or until my taste buds said they were ready.

Phaed