I love dill pickles. LOVE. I used to get a jar in my stocking at Christmas and be absolutely thrilled about it (my parents knew me well!). My love for pickles hasn't changed and I've somehow managed to pass it on to Bug.
So, when I was deciding that this would be the year I tried to preserve all the things we buy from the store in canned form and learn to make yummy things, the very first thing on my list was Dill Pickles.
I've never made pickles before, not even as a kid with my mom, so this was an interesting project. I decided to try 3 different variations and have a taste test to see which were the best.
After a month to make them delicious, the verdict is in, and this is my favourite of the three!
Country Dill Pickles
Prepare water bath canner, 4 quart jars, lids and rims for canning. If you need instruction on canning basics I use this site to help www.simplycanning.com.
Prepare Brine:
5 1/2 cups Water
1 1/2 cups White Vinegar
1/2 cup Pickling Salt
In a large saucepan, bring brine ingredients to a boil and set aside.
Fill Jars:
Cucumbers (as many as you can stuff in 4 jars...depends on the size of the cukes, I got about 10 in each)
8 heads of flowering dill (2 for each jar)
4 tsp Dill Seed (1 tsp for each jar)
16 cloves Garlic (4 for each jar)
In each jar, add fresh dill, dill seed, and garlic to the bottom. Stuff as many cucumbers in each jar as you can and fill jars with hot brine leaving 1/2" headspace at the top. Give the base of each jar a little tap (lightly) to bring any air pockets up to the surface.
Wipe rims of jars and place hot lids, hand tightening rims over the lids and place in prepared water bath canner for 15 minutes.
Let cool for 12 hours and check seals before storing in a cool place.
Prepare water bath canner, 4 quart jars, lids and rims for canning. If you need instruction on canning basics I use this site to help www.simplycanning.com.
Prepare Brine:
5 1/2 cups Water
1 1/2 cups White Vinegar
1/2 cup Pickling Salt
In a large saucepan, bring brine ingredients to a boil and set aside.
Fill Jars:
Cucumbers (as many as you can stuff in 4 jars...depends on the size of the cukes, I got about 10 in each)
8 heads of flowering dill (2 for each jar)
4 tsp Dill Seed (1 tsp for each jar)
16 cloves Garlic (4 for each jar)
In each jar, add fresh dill, dill seed, and garlic to the bottom. Stuff as many cucumbers in each jar as you can and fill jars with hot brine leaving 1/2" headspace at the top. Give the base of each jar a little tap (lightly) to bring any air pockets up to the surface.
Wipe rims of jars and place hot lids, hand tightening rims over the lids and place in prepared water bath canner for 15 minutes.
Let cool for 12 hours and check seals before storing in a cool place.
Yum. I love pickles.
This was surprisingly easy, not sure why I didn't do this earlier! I think I'm going to plant a whole bunch of pickling cukes, dill, and garlic next year so I can make my own dill pickles!
~Adel~
What # were these. We are enjoying the #2's you gave us. Mom
ReplyDeletethis recipe was #1. I'll post #2 a little later, they are quite different from the traditional garlicy dill - bug loves them!
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