Dill Pickles
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This year I didn’t have much luck with my vegetable garden. I’m not sure if it’s because I changed the location of it or because we had a cool and wet summer. My tomato plants didn’t grow, my cucumbers didn’t grow, and I only ended up with about 20 peppers. My herbs did really well, but I would rather my vegetables do better then my herbs. However, my mom’s garden started producing in late August and was still producing into October. 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. My husband usually makes cucumber onion salad and I normally put the cucumbers in salad. We recently received some dill pickles from one of my co-workers and my husband really liked them. I asked her for the recipe thinking that I could use my mom’s cucumbers to make the pickles for my husband. 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. I cut one cucumber into thin rounds and the others into spears. I ended up making 4 pints of dill pickle spears and 2 pints of sandwich dill pickles. 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.
Notes
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!