Farmers Garden Pickles

[ericthered]

Found these on the shelf at my local HEB and decided to try them. They are truely as good as anything Clausens puts out. Never thought I'd say that!

[slowcoooked]

I'm no pickle aficionado, but has anyone tried the half sour pickles (Batampte brand) available at the kosher section of the Far West HEB in the fridge? They serve them up with deli sandwiches and I fell in love. Oddly they are indeed less sour, but despite a less salty taste have more salt than the regular pickles. So salt conscious folks beware. They taste like they were picked the day before. http://www.allinkosher.com/p-32079-ba...

[ericthered]

Yes I have had the half sours and they are truely awesome. Used to get them from a Jewish deli in north Chicago. Batampte also makes really good pickled green tomatos which is another Jewish deli staple but to answer sqwertz, they are not refrigerated and they contain vinegar.

[sqwertz]

I once had an occasion to do extensive research on pickle production and regulations. I recall that the nutritional information for salt cured/fermented pickles includes the nutritional value of the brine along with the pickles. Where as for vinegar-cured pickles the salt in the brine does not need to be calculated in with the pickle - just the solids are considered.

The reasoning for that rule is that people are most likely to drink the brine from half-sours, but not the vinegared pickle types. Which actually does make sense - if you ain't drinking yer half sour pickle juice, then you need your head examined! :-) I have a hard time rationing the brine as I eat the pickles so as not to drink so much that the pickles are no longer submerged.

In general, parts of the food not traditionally consumed are not included in USDA Nutritional info.

So eat as many of those half sours as you care to without feeling guilty. And send the brine to me!

-sw

[rudeboy]

Hey, just for a second, think about biting into one of those huge weird movie theater pickles in the back of the theater.

If your mouth didn't just water, your aren't a human! (not specifically you, sqwertz)

[sqwertz]

Movie theater pickles? Must be a Texas thing. I've never seen pickles in movie theaters but I've never been in a Texas movie theater.

What's so weird about them other than them being movie theater fare?

[verily]

They're giant, ultra sour (like those generic hamburger pickles), and come in a little plastic package. I was never a fan of them myself as I don't care for super sour pickles. I never noticed them at theaters, but they were popular at ball parks and roller rinks growing up.

[ericthered]

You could even buy them at the checkout counters at Blockbuster when they were still in business. They're nasty.

[amysuehere]

They were always in the same league as pickled eggs and pigs feet to me.

[sqwertz]

OK. I've seen those at convenience stores, but I've always passed.

[Alan Sudo]

I liked them OK as a kid, but my sister loved them and would pick a pickle over candy or popcorn.
FYI, they are still around and getting even weirder.
Kool-Aid pickles! http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/din...

[rudeboy]

Alan: How about pickles AND popcorn - that was the thing in the theaters. I even whip up popcorn today and have a pickle with it. The kool-aid pickles look pretty cool - I'd love to try them. The ones that I was talking about are huge green sour things and hardly edible. For some reason, we really wanted them.

Eric: Blockbuster had them because they were a movie theater thing. Not sure if that's texas-specific, but after a brief internet search, it sounds like pickles were only available at the "show" in the south. They were always available where I grew up.

I still miss the picked eggs and pickled sausages at Ginny's before it went hipster. I'd slice em all up and eat them together off a styrofoam plate with saltines. That's a perfect pairing with the old Schlitz. Now they have Sous Vide pork belly.

[Philly369]

Growing up in west Philly in the 50s, the corner grocery stores always had a huge pickle barrel with kosher pickles for 5 cents - we used to eat them walking home from school....

[rudeboy]

How far west,? My wife if from Lansdale. We'll be flying there soon.

[Philly369]

That was in Wynnefield, near 54th & City Line Ave. - What a great place to grow up back then ! Now St. Joe's University owns most of that real estate...

[sqwertz]

Are these refrigerated pickles? Fermented pickles or do they contain vinegar?

-sw

[rudeboy]

Same questions as sqwertz. I looked for them at Burnet/2222, but didn't see them.

[amysuehere]

Bought them at the Far West store. Not refrigerated. Ingredients: cucumbers, water, red peppers, carrots, salt, distilled vinegar, garlic, calcium chloride, gum arabic, natural flavor, beta carotene.

[verily]

I've seen them on the shelves with the rest of the Vlasic pickles.

[sqwertz]

OK, so I just tried one of the halves. Too much vinegar for me. I prefer the Ba Temte (mentioned downthread), Bubbies, Nathann/Hermanns variety (Korean stores sell their store made ones as well). These are the salt cured and fermented variety that make their own "vinegar" (lactic acid). Claussen is the only "vinegared" pickle that I like (less vinegar, needs refrigerated). The perfect cucumber pickles contains NO vinegar, IMO. Call me a pickle snob.

[sqwertz]

So I just tried another pickle. I've decided they're not so much strong with vinegar as much as salt. Yikes. There's more salt than vinegar in these. Looks like 50% more salt than classic Vlassic pickles. They had to do something to make them shelf stable, looks like they decided on salt.

[ssnclrk]

That is the store I shop at the most. They have them there on the row with the other pickles.

[ssnclrk]

The grand daughter and I saw these at the store last weekend. We should have bought some but didn't. Will pick some up this weekend. I really want to try the bread and butter ones.

[amysuehere]

We've bought three jars in two weeks

[ericthered]

I've been seen eating them right out of the jar. And those carrots at the bottom!!!!!