I love pickles of all types. I grew up on those kosher dill pickles that they sell in the refrigerator section of the grocery store. It was only recently that I realized that pickles are So Easy To Make. So easy, that it didn’t make any sense to buy store pickles, since I could make better tasting homemade pickles on my own.
Here’s how I do it. (The recipe is at the bottom.)
You’ll need 4 pounds of pickling cucumbers. These are small 5-6 inch cucumbers with a nice bumpy surface. Remove their blossom ends (that’s where the root connects, and looks like a brown belly button.) Cut the cucumbers in half lengthwise if you like, and then fit them loosely into 6 pint or 3 quart sized mason jars. (These were tall pint jars, which worked really well.)
Once all of the pickles are in the jars, add in the flavoring ingredients. I like to add to each jar:
- one bay leaf,
- 1-2 garlic cloves (at least one, use more if you have extra cloves; it’s actually better if you chop the garlic or use the store-bought chopped chunks, because it better distributes the garlic flavor),
- 1-2 sprigs of fresh dill (at least one, but if you have leftover dill, split it up among the jars),
- a small hot pepper (whatever you like; I use what is currently growing in my garden, but you can buy anything that you like for heat, or your store has in season; I also like a teaspoon of Aleppo pepper in place of or in addition to the fresh hot pepper),
- a teaspoon of mustard seeds,
- a teaspoon of black peppercorns, and
- a teaspoon of whole round coriander
Now its time to heat up the brine. In a large pot, heat to boiling three cups water and 2 3/4 cups of cider vinegar or white vinegar. Add in 1/4 cup pickling salt and stir to dissolve.
I like nice, crunchy pickles, so I add in Ball Pickle Crisp according to the directions (it had other seasonings, which you can see in the above picture). My books stay that you can add 1-2 grape leaves or sour cherry leaves to the jars instead, and those will keep the pickles nice and crisp.
Pour the liquid over the jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace at the top of each jar.
Close up your jars and process them in a boiling water bath. You have two choices for this. I like to process them at a lower temperature to help keep them crispy. You can ONLY do this for pickles, not for any other product you can. Under this low-temperature method, you will cover the jars with water 1 inch over their tops, and process them in 180 degree water for 30 minutes. I leave a kitchen thermometer in the pot the whole time so that I can monitor the temperature and make needed adjustments to the fire.
Under the standard processing method, you will also cover the jars 1 inch over their tops with hot water, and boil them for 10 minutes if using pint jars and for 15 minutes if using quart jars.
When they are done, you pull them out and let them cool down on the counter. You’ll hear them pop as they cool and the seals are made.
The standard rules apply. If when you get around to opening these, if they look or smell funky, are foamy, are effervescent, are moldy (even a little bit) or have an odd slipperiness, pour them down the drain. It’s not worth the risk.
- 4 pounds pickling cucumbers
- 1 bay leaf
- 1-2 garlic cloves (at least one, use more if you have extra cloves; it's actually better if you chop the garlic or use the store-bought chopped chunks, because it better distributes the garlic flavor)
- 1-2 sprigs of fresh dill (at least one, but if you have leftover dill, split it up among the jars)
- 1 small hot pepper (whatever you like; I use what is currently growing in my garden, but you can buy anything that you like for heat, or your store has in season; I also like a teaspoon of Aleppo pepper in place of or in addition to the fresh hot pepper)
- 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon of black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon of whole round coriander
- You'll need 4 pounds of pickling cucumbers. These are small 5-6 inch cucumbers with a nice bumpy surface. Remove their blossom ends (that's where the root connects, and looks like a brown belly button.)
- Cut the cucumbers in half lengthwise if you like, and then fit them loosely into 6 pint or 3 quart sized mason jars.
- Once all of the pickles are in the jars, add in the flavoring ingredients. Add one bay leaf, 1-2 garlic cloves (at least one, use more if you have extra cloves; it's actually better if you chop the garlic or use the store-bought chopped chunks, because it better distributes the garlic flavor), 1-2 sprigs of fresh dill (at least one, but if you have leftover dill, split it up among the jars), a small hot pepper (whatever you like; I use what is currently growing in my garden, but you can buy anything that you like for heat, or your store has in season),1 teaspoon of black peppercorns, and 1 teaspoon of whole round coriander.
- Now its time to heat up the brine. In a large pot, heat to boiling three cups water and 2¾ cups of cider vinegar or white vinegar. Add in ¼ cup pickling salt and stir to dissolve.
- I like nice, crunchy pickles, so I add in Ball Pickle Crisp according to the directions (it had other seasonings, which you can see in the above picture). My books stay that you can add 1-2 grape leaves or sour cherry leaves to the jars instead, and those will keep the pickles nice and crisp.
- Pour the liquid over the jars, leaving ½ inch of headspace at the top of each jar.
- Close up your jars and process them in a boiling water bath. You have two choices for this. I like to process them at a lower temperature to help keep them crispy. You can ONLY do this for pickles, not for any other product you can. Under this low-temperature method, you will cover the jars with water 1 inch over their tops, and process them in 180 degree water for 30 minutes. I leave a kitchen thermometer in the pot the whole time so that I can monitor the temperature and make needed adjustments to the fire. Under the standard processing method, you will also cover the jars 1 inch over their tops with hot water, and boil them for 10 minutes if using pint jars and for 15 minutes if using quart jars.
- When they are done, you pull them out and let them cool down on the counter. You'll hear them pop as they cool and the seals are made.
- The standard rules apply. If when you get around to opening these, if they look or smell funky, are foamy, are effervescent, are moldy (even a little bit) or have an odd slipperiness, pour them down the drain. It's not worth the risk.
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