Rockinar
is Blowin Smoke!
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2013
- Location
- Houston, TX
Most all the Texas BBQ joints make their own pickle chips now, some better than others. I wanted to give it a try myself for fun, so I decided try Marubozo's recipe found here since he got positive feedback on them already:
https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2722966&postcount=545
I made a jar according to the formula (without hot peppers) and thought they were decent but not great. I tasted them first, then tried some dill pickels from the grocery right after. Even though I did not think Marubozo formula was great, I was surprised how much better they still were then the classic Claussen dill slices from the store. I was on to something, but not quite what I'm looking for. I was looking for more of a "classic" dill pickle taste, nothing too fancy and no heat. I thought Marubozo's had a hint of dill, but had an aftertaste of something I did not like. I could not figure out what it was. The chips were nice and crispy which was nice. I would have thought pouring boiling water on them would make them soggy. It didn't.
I made another jar according to Marubozo formula and had my old lady take it to work and see if she can get feedback from co-workers. She said everyone liked them but did not get much feedback on them. She said someone told her "a bit salty" but they ate the whole jar so they clearly did not think they sucked. Meh, that did not help and I did not think they were salty so I'm not changing that.
I had a family event coming up I was cooking BBQ for and though it would be a good chance to test a new formula batch on a captive audience to get some real opinions. I made a new jar of Marubozo's pickles but changed the formula a bit. I also brought a jar of Claussen to do some A/B testing.
New formula:
1) I put 4 whole garlic cloves in the boiling brine then transfer only 2 into a single jar. Marubozo formula calls for 8-12 in boil brine, then split those in half and put them 50/50 in a jar. So Maruboro jars would have 4-6 cloves in each instead of my 2 cloves per jar.
2) Then I changed the dill. I put 4 sprigs of fresh dill AND 2 teaspoons of dill seed. The Marubozo formula says "A couple sprigs of fresh dill OR 2 TABLESPOONS of dill seed. I put in both. I changed "a couple" to exactly 4 sprigs and reduced 2 tablespoons of dill seed to 2 teaspoons (per jar).
The rest of the recipe was the same for 1 jar. 1/2 teaspoon coriander seed, celery seed, mustard seed and whole black peppercorns. Let sit in frige for 2 days.
The day of the BBQ came and I got so busy cooking all night I forgot to taste the new pickle formula. My old lady tossed them in the truck and away we went. As I was setting up my table I saw the pickles and decided to try them first so I can hide them if they're bad and serve the Claussen instead.
Result: MONEY! Totally perfect. Perfect spices taste, classic dill taste and crunchy.
I waved over the Mom Inlaw to have her try them. Mistake. She loved them then ran off and told a couple people. Now I have like 5 old ladies at my table eating the pickles. Five minutes later and the old ladies have eaten half the jar and I have not started serving yet. I had to politely ask them "Quit eating all the f***ing pickles please" and wave them off.
Long story short, people LOVED the pickles (what was left after the old ladies destroyed them). I served about 40 people. The number of people that skipped the Marubozo pickles for the Claussen pickles......ONE. And he was a teenage kid. They eat Tide Pods, so what would they know about good pickles?
Anyone looking to try to make their own, I would encourage it. Way better than anything store bought and super easy. You can tweak the garlic, dill, hot peppers in the Marubozo formula to your own taste. I also used seedless cucumbers instead of regular cucumbers. I thought they look better without seeds.
https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2722966&postcount=545
I made a jar according to the formula (without hot peppers) and thought they were decent but not great. I tasted them first, then tried some dill pickels from the grocery right after. Even though I did not think Marubozo formula was great, I was surprised how much better they still were then the classic Claussen dill slices from the store. I was on to something, but not quite what I'm looking for. I was looking for more of a "classic" dill pickle taste, nothing too fancy and no heat. I thought Marubozo's had a hint of dill, but had an aftertaste of something I did not like. I could not figure out what it was. The chips were nice and crispy which was nice. I would have thought pouring boiling water on them would make them soggy. It didn't.
I made another jar according to Marubozo formula and had my old lady take it to work and see if she can get feedback from co-workers. She said everyone liked them but did not get much feedback on them. She said someone told her "a bit salty" but they ate the whole jar so they clearly did not think they sucked. Meh, that did not help and I did not think they were salty so I'm not changing that.
I had a family event coming up I was cooking BBQ for and though it would be a good chance to test a new formula batch on a captive audience to get some real opinions. I made a new jar of Marubozo's pickles but changed the formula a bit. I also brought a jar of Claussen to do some A/B testing.
New formula:
1) I put 4 whole garlic cloves in the boiling brine then transfer only 2 into a single jar. Marubozo formula calls for 8-12 in boil brine, then split those in half and put them 50/50 in a jar. So Maruboro jars would have 4-6 cloves in each instead of my 2 cloves per jar.
2) Then I changed the dill. I put 4 sprigs of fresh dill AND 2 teaspoons of dill seed. The Marubozo formula says "A couple sprigs of fresh dill OR 2 TABLESPOONS of dill seed. I put in both. I changed "a couple" to exactly 4 sprigs and reduced 2 tablespoons of dill seed to 2 teaspoons (per jar).
The rest of the recipe was the same for 1 jar. 1/2 teaspoon coriander seed, celery seed, mustard seed and whole black peppercorns. Let sit in frige for 2 days.
The day of the BBQ came and I got so busy cooking all night I forgot to taste the new pickle formula. My old lady tossed them in the truck and away we went. As I was setting up my table I saw the pickles and decided to try them first so I can hide them if they're bad and serve the Claussen instead.
Result: MONEY! Totally perfect. Perfect spices taste, classic dill taste and crunchy.
I waved over the Mom Inlaw to have her try them. Mistake. She loved them then ran off and told a couple people. Now I have like 5 old ladies at my table eating the pickles. Five minutes later and the old ladies have eaten half the jar and I have not started serving yet. I had to politely ask them "Quit eating all the f***ing pickles please" and wave them off.
Long story short, people LOVED the pickles (what was left after the old ladies destroyed them). I served about 40 people. The number of people that skipped the Marubozo pickles for the Claussen pickles......ONE. And he was a teenage kid. They eat Tide Pods, so what would they know about good pickles?
Anyone looking to try to make their own, I would encourage it. Way better than anything store bought and super easy. You can tweak the garlic, dill, hot peppers in the Marubozo formula to your own taste. I also used seedless cucumbers instead of regular cucumbers. I thought they look better without seeds.