Armed Polite Society

Main Forums => The Mess Hall => Topic started by: Hawkmoon on November 07, 2018, 01:21:00 AM

Title: Where to buy pickle relish?
Post by: Hawkmoon on November 07, 2018, 01:21:00 AM
I found a recipe on-line for a clone of McDonald's special Big Mac sauce.

https://topsecretrecipes.com/mcdonalds-special-sauce-big-mac-sauce-copycat-recipe.html

One of the ingredients is sweet pickle relish. I don't care for relish on either hamburgers or hot dogs, and I've never bought a jar on relish over the 74 years of my life. This afternoon in the supermarket I had to look long and hard to find where they hide the relish. I finally found it -- only two brands, and neither has pickles in it. Both are based on cucumbers. And I hate cucumbers.

So where do I find sweet pickle relish? Neither of the brands in the store was Heinz, and I'm pretty certain that's what my mother used to buy for the members of the family who did like relish. Any suggestions? Or do I just mince some pickle chips and dump that into the sauce mix?
Title: Re: Where to buy pickle relish?
Post by: K Frame on November 07, 2018, 07:29:36 AM
Uh... you do realize that pickles are generally cucumbers, right? Sweet gherkins, dills, etc. All cukes.

So yeah, the primary ingredient on any bottle of sweet pickle relish is going to be... cucumbers.

Here's the label information for Heinz Sweet Pickle Relish...

https://tinyurl.com/Heinz-Pickle-Relish


Cukes.
Title: Re: Where to buy pickle relish?
Post by: zxcvbob on November 07, 2018, 07:46:44 AM
Homemade relish often contains cabbage, but the commercial stuff is mostly cucumbers.  I bought a gallon of the stuff at Sam's about 20 years ago and haven't quite used it all up yet.  (transferring to smaller and smaller jars, there's about 3/4 pint left)  I use it mostly for making deviled eggs, or add a little to potato salad.

I don't think you'll get it right just grinding up pickles.
Title: Re: Where to buy pickle relish?
Post by: K Frame on November 07, 2018, 08:04:31 AM
The Heinz relish also contains cabbage.
Title: Re: Where to buy pickle relish?
Post by: charby on November 07, 2018, 08:28:02 AM
A gas station that sells hotdogs, steal a couple packets of sweet relish.
Title: Re: Where to buy pickle relish?
Post by: K Frame on November 07, 2018, 08:39:33 AM
A gas station that sells hotdogs, steal a couple packets of sweet relish.

Now that's thinking on the fly!
Title: Re: Where to buy pickle relish?
Post by: brimic on November 07, 2018, 12:23:55 PM
I love pickled cucumbers....
Title: Re: Where to buy pickle relish?
Post by: charby on November 07, 2018, 01:10:19 PM
I love pickled cucumbers....

While being pickled with bloody marys
Title: Re: Where to buy pickle relish?
Post by: Fly320s on November 07, 2018, 02:37:52 PM
I love pickled cucumbers....

Not me.  Give me real pickles!   =D
Title: Re: Where to buy pickle relish?
Post by: Hawkmoon on November 07, 2018, 05:00:54 PM
Uh... you do realize that pickles are generally cucumbers, right? Sweet gherkins, dills, etc. All cukes.


Well, err, umm ...

Yes, somewhere in my dinosaur brain I did know that pickles are pickled cucumbers -- but I didn't put that into the equation when reading the label on the pickle jars.

:hangs head in shame:
Title: Re: Where to buy pickle relish?
Post by: Hawkmoon on November 07, 2018, 05:02:27 PM
A gas station that sells hotdogs, steal a couple packets of sweet relish.

That was my Plan B ... and it may well become Plan A, because it doesn't take much relish to make a batch of Special Sauce, and I have no other use for a jar of relish taking up space in the refrigerator.
Title: Re: Where to buy pickle relish?
Post by: brimic on November 08, 2018, 10:33:40 AM
I've had pickles = cucumbers ingrained in my psyche since i was a toddled.
Grandmother used to make a huge batch of dill pickles every year- she washed the cucumbers in an old wringer-washing machine.
The octanegerian couple that lived two houses down from me as a kid made some sort of fermented crock pickles in their garage. I would go over there, the old man would lift a plate off a crock and dig one out of the green slime for me. They were absolutely delicious.
Title: Re: Where to buy pickle relish?
Post by: K Frame on November 08, 2018, 11:25:51 AM
Well, err, umm ...

Yes, somewhere in my dinosaur brain I did know that pickles are pickled cucumbers -- but I didn't put that into the equation when reading the label on the pickle jars.

:hangs head in shame:

 :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:


Sort of like when Lisa Simpson tells Homer that pork chops, ham and bacon all come from the same animal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BZDZyRaGa8
Title: Re: Where to buy pickle relish?
Post by: French G. on November 08, 2018, 11:55:47 PM
Random pickle thoughts, my dad worked in a pickle plant before I was born, fixing equipment and designing new machines for of all things a New York Jewish pickle plant owner. Stereotype much? So some fifty years later he still won't eat pickle relish since at least in that plant the relish came from whatever jammed in machines or got shovelled up off the floor.

I have built some pickle loading machines, actually still cucumbers then, lines the cukes up and lays them in a pocketed conveyor belt. No idea how the plant sizes the cukes, but they have very stringent size requirements, they no crap sent us test cucumbers to run the thing.
Title: Re: Where to buy pickle relish?
Post by: K Frame on November 09, 2018, 07:19:38 AM
Not surprised that they have stringent requirements. My guess is that their entire pickling process is built around how long it takes to pickle a cuke of X dimensions. Larger or smaller cukes would throw that off.

Also, you need to be able to get the cukes in the bottle in certain quantities. Over/under sized pickles would throw that off, as well.