Dill Pickles
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This year I didn’t have much luck with my vegetable garden.ย ย I’m not sure if it’s because I changed the location of it or because we had a cool and wet summer.ย My tomato plants didn’t grow, my cucumbers didn’t grow, and I only ended up with about 20 peppers.ย ย My herbs did really well, but I would rather my vegetables do better then my herbs.ย However, my mom’s garden started producing in late August and was still producing into October.ย ย On my recent visit home she loaded me up with giant cucumbers.
I like cucumbers well enough but I had no idea what to do with all of those cucumbers.ย ย My husband usually makes cucumber onion salad and I normally put the cucumbers in salad.ย ย We recently received some dill pickles from one of my co-workers and my husband really liked them.ย I asked her for the recipe thinking that I could use my mom’s cucumbers to make the pickles for my husband.ย When I looked at the recipe I realized it was for refrigerator pickles, not canned pickles.
What I did was use a combination of a recipe for canned pickles and the refrigerator pickles and I made some delicious dill pickles.ย ย I cut one cucumber into thin rounds and the others into spears.ย ย I ended up making 4 pints of dill pickle spears and 2 pints of sandwich dill pickles.ย ย My husband was happy with how they turned out and I was happy to use the cucumbers!
Ingredients
- 4 lbs. cucumbers about 10 small or 4-5 large
- 8 c. water
- 6 c. white vinegar
- 3/4 c. pickling salt
- 1/4 c. pickling spice divided
- 1/4 c. sugar
- 20 fresh dill springs
- 6 garlic cloves smashed
- pickle crisp
Instructions
- Prepare canner, 6 pint jars, and lids.
- Cut the cucumbers into spears or rounds and set aside.
- Place 2 tablespoons of the pickling spice in cheesecloth and tie with string, creating a spice bag.
- In a large saucepan combine the water, vinegar, pickling salt, sugar, and spice bag. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt. Reduce heat and boil gently for 15 minutes.
- Remove the jars from the hot water and set on a towel. Place 1-2 dill sprigs and a garlic clove in the bottom of each jar. Pack the jars with the cucumbers (placing spears and rounds in different jars).
- Divide the remain pickling spice between the jars and then add the remaining dill to the jars. Place 1/4 t. of pickle crisp in each jar.
- Ladle the hot pickling liquid into the jars taking care to completely cover the cucumbers. Leave 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe the rims of the jars and place a lid on top. Twist the screwband on until it is fingertip tight.
- Place the jars in the canner and cover. Process (boil) for 10 minutes. Remove the lid from the canner and wait 5 minutes.
- Remove the jars from the canner and let cool for 24 hours. Check the seals and then store in a cool place for 1 year.
This sounds easy enough, and I LOOOVE pickles!! I made some of my own refrigerator pickles before, but now that we have our own pressure cooker, I think it’s time I give some real canned pickles a try. Thanks for sharing!
They are so good and really are easy to make!