Wife is having trouble pickles taste great but are mushy any ideas?

I’ve used alum, but for those with oaks around I’ve heard oak leaves will work too. Can’t speak to that though

Purple pill?

Blue chew

We pick ‘em and pickle ‘em . Never any shelf or fridge time. That seemed to keep ours crisp.

Variety matters too
Ask seed or plant supplier in your area

Alum

Processing for too long will make them mushy. I have that problem too.

I hate when multiple jars don't seal and you have to refrigerate them all, because they will be mush, if you try again. It's not a problem when doing small batches, but when you do 4 or 5 bushels at once, there's almost always going to be a few that don't seal in the steam bath.

Keith

Supposedly grape leaves in the pickle keeps them crisp.

Thanks guys I hope your pickles are all firm and crispy

Thats how my great granny did

Grape leaves is traditional in many home recipes for that reason. I always top the jar with a grape leaf.

…put half a tablet of viagra in each jar

Ball canning sells Pickle Crisp which is calcium chloride for that.

Lime pickles are crisp due to the lime soak.

This thread is getting gay-er by the minute

Open kettle canning.
Keep jars in the oven or in boiling water, pack jars with cucumbers and whatever you like with them, pour hot brine over them, leave set on counter after you place the lid and ring on.
Never tried it, but that's how refrigerator pickles work, so makes some sense to me.

I've tried pickle crisp, and many other methods, nothing worked to my thinking.
So next time going to open kettle.

Texture is so incredibly important in determining how enjoyable food is. I've wondered why that is. I suspect it has something to do with what is biologically programmed into us, to determine if food is safe.

Keith

It makes sense as water bathing is just cooking the pickles.
I do know crispness in peppers only lasts about a year, so it may be the same with pickles.
There used to be pickle packing companies in nearby towns, that did open vat fermenting , before packing in jars.
Wish I had worked at one to learn the secret.