Super Dill Pickles

I finally found some pickling cucumbers!  Just the other day we finished the last jar of my Super Dills, so I was really happy to find these cucs at the Farmers Market.  I just wish I had bought more.

Brine

12 Cups Water

4 Cups Vinegar (7%|)

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Course Pickling Salt

2 Tsp Pickling Spice, tied in a cheese cloth.

  

Combine ingredients in a large pot.  Stir and bring to a a boil.  Boil 3-5 Minutes.  Left over brine can be stored in the fridge in jars for future use.

Pickles

1 Garlic Clove per Quart

2 Heads Dill, 3 inch stems in tact per quart

8 Lbs Small pickling cucumbers

Pack hot sterilized jars with garlic, dill and cucumbers to within 1 inch of top of jar.  Fill jar with boiling brine, 1/2 Inch from top.  Wipe rim of jar with clean cloth, Place sterilized metal lids on jars.  Screw on metal rings finger tight.

Place jars in a canner filled with warm (120*F - 140*) water.  Then add hot water to cover jars 1 inch above the tops.  Heat the water enough to maintain 180*F- 180*F for 30 Minutes.  Check with candy thermometer to be sure that water temperature is maintained.  

Let stand for 4 or 5 weeks before serving.

I like to halve the cucumber so I can get more in the jar.

I pre-peel a bunch of garlic.  Any unused can be pickled as well or put into a jar and kept in the fridge for cooking.  It keeps pretty good.in a canning jar with a tight lid.

Pack the Dill and Garlic into the hot Jars.  I can't resist adding some extra.

Pack as many cucumbers into the jars as you can, leaving an inch of head space.  It helps to tip the jars a little on their sides. 

 Pour boiling brine over the cucumbers stopping a half inch below the rim.

Wipe rims and place sterilized lids on top of jars.

Put on rims finger tight.

Place jars on rack in canner.

Make sure jars aren't touching.

Lower into hot water bath canner.  Make sure the water is an inch over the tops of the jars.

Put lid on canner.  Ok.  Here's a confession....  I didn't can my pickles this year according to the above instructions.  I found that they didn't come out quite as crunchy as I would have liked, although the flavor was wonderful.   This year, I put my pickles in the canner and let them boil for 10 minutes then removed them from the canner.  I'm hoping that this shorter canning time will leave me with a crisper pickle.  My mother tells me that she doesn't even hot water bath hers.  She just pours the brine over the cucumbers and seals the jars that way.  I'm a little chicken to try that yet.

When time is up, remove from canner and put on a tea towel on the counter to cool.  When they are completely cool, wash and label jars.

 Super Dill Peas

Instead of using pickling cucumbers use peas;

I discovered this a few years back when I had a whole bunch of peas that I needed to use up because I was going out of town and making pickles before I went.  I noticed the peas in the fridge, and thought "why not try pickling them?"  They turned out awesome!

Wash and trim the flower ends off as well as any tough zipper that is sometimes there.   Pack them into the jars with the dill, garlic and brine.  I make them in pints.  Process in the hot water bath for less less time, only 5 - 10 minutes.  I have found that the thinner flatter peas hold their crispness longer.

The color changes some when you can them, but they are delicious!

So here's my pickles for the day.  A little bit of a mishap when I pickled my cucumber.  One of the jars must of had a small hairline crack that I missed in the washing.  It broke while it was in the canner.  I ended up with 4 (5 including the broken one) out of 7 lbs of cucumbers.