Making Dill Pickles

In my garden I planted about six times as many plants of each type as was recommended, largely because I was too soft-hearted to throw away the less-hardy of them, and now have a ridiculous harvest and plants that are taking over the back yard and even trying to get into the house. This created a new problem: What to do with the excess harvest, above and beyond the produce my boyfriend and I could reasonably eat? We decided to pickle some of it, particularly the cucumbers, which lend themselves naturally to such processing. I picked a few green tomatoes as well to try the process on them. I used a recipe by Sharon Howard that I found online.

Note: You have to wait 8 weeks after pickling before you are supposed to eat the pickles. !!!

Ingredients:
8 pounds cucumbers (cut into spears if too large for the jars)
We also used green tomatoes.
4 cups white vinegar
12 cups water
2/3 cup pickling salt
16 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
fresh dill weed

Equipment it's helpful to have (though we didn't):
Boiling-water canner.

Step 1 Chill the cukes.

Wash cucumbers, and place in the sink with cold water and lots of ice cubes. Soak in ice water for at least 2 hours but no more than 8 hours. Refresh ice when it melts. This took all the ice in my freezer and an additional bag that I had to run out to get.

Comments

[!Andrew_Modder!]

PICKLES!~!!!!! if you want sweet pickles dont you stop the process 2-3 weeks earlier? And also there are some powders you put in to make them more 'crisp!' Great instructable! Except the time takes for EVER to be able to eat em'!

[kewpiedoll99]

I read online that you can soak the cukes in alum and cold water instead of in ice water like we did. I think it makes them extra crispy. You have to carefully wash off the alum before pickling, natch. Also, the processing at the end, that's a safety step, which a lot of people leave off because they say it makes them mushy. I can't speak to that, but I can say I don't recommend leaving out safety steps. :)

[yukiku]

You are extrimly right!

[Tobita]

That's cool, I never thought alum could be used this way, as a general rule, i always have at least 250 grams of alum in my jeep i use for camping in Saudi Arabia, it works great for deodorant, for shaving, for cuts, for shampoo, and I guess for pickles too!

[!Andrew_Modder!]

yeah ! alum thats what i was thinking of!, oh also mustard SEED i love :----D

[LeissKG]

Without the processing ( also called sterilization ) i would not store them outside of a fridge for a long time. This processing can also be done in an oven, if you don't have enough large pots. Search for "oven and pickles" for some recipes. What you should look for, is that the brine in the jar boils and then count down your time. When doing it in a pot, there is the rule that if the water level is high, it is easier to get the content of the jar boiling.

[Dubbsy]

Only 2 weeks until my pickles are ready!

[grandmasue]

HI! These sound like the pickles my mother-in-law use to make. The only difference is she used red vinegar, not white. Anyone know what the difference would be? Thanks! Can't wait to try them!

[fizban7]

Only taste. Make sure the acid content is the same. their are a few different vinegars to use, like white, red, apple cider, you can even make your own vinegar(there is an instructable somewhere) . But make sure the acid volume of the brine will end up the same.

[firefyter-emt]

You really need to submerge those jars under at least 1"- 2" of water you know..

[Basenji]

DO NOT use regular table salt . it will work but you will get cloudy junk in the jars.. this is because table salt hs an additive to keep it from clumping and absorbing moisture form the air . the "processing" step is really not needed and it does make the finished product mushier than if omitted . I have been making dills for 30 years and have never processed my jars heck i have even made em in a barrel kept on the back porch .oh and you can leave the bands on ,but don't reuse bands or lids the next year just get new ones .

[Suppafly]

Do you have to take the screw bands off? Once you test the seal, couldn't you put the screw band back on to ensure that you don't break the seal later?

[mcadwell]

If you want quick spicy pickles try this: Grab a jar of banana peppers (mild, medium, or hot), spoon out the peppers leaving the juice. Put in the cucumber spears, put on the lid tightly, turn upside down in the fridge. Wait a week and eat. Now since the spears weren't processed you will want to keep them chilled and eaten in about 2 weeks. But that's better than 2 months. :)

[onebadpenny]

awesome instructable!! thanks..

[snoyes]

Since salt lowers the freezing point of water (so the ice melts faster, hence draws heat from environment faster), and since there's going to be salt going into the pickles anyway, I imagine you could speed up step 1 by adding salt to your ice bath. Is there a particular goal temperature we're trying for when chilling the cucumbers?

[Squgies]

I have this recipe By Sharon Howard it is GREAT!! Can I use it for making dill pickle SPEARS???

[kewpiedoll99]

We did. Our cucumbers were the large size because that's what we grew in our garden. So in order for them to fit into the jars, we had to cut them up into spears. They came out fine!

[Squgies]

Thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kewpiedoll99]

I guess you'd have to experiment. It's my understanding that the initial chilling step helps the pickles get really crisp. If you were trying to shorten the first step, you'd probably want to go the route with alum.

[zer0vector]

Just a caveat I remembered from a Good Eats episode: Pickling salt takes up less volume per ounce than table salt, since the pickling salt is ground finer. If you switch between the two you should measure by weight rather than by volume.

[fegundez1]

also the pickling salt dissolves better than table there wont be as much precipitation,also always use PLAIN salt if you use table!

[fegundez1]

This works for peppers also!The alum trick works but can end with a bitter taste,practice for perfection!The leftover produce can go a long way with your neighbors,you never know who lives in your neighborhood anymore sharing stuff brings back some of the old America that seems gone.Killer instructable next time show us your garden!

[bowakowa]

Not to detract from these fine pickles, but the best I ever had my grandma made, god rest her soul. I thought they were lost to me forever, until I randomly tried Vlasic's zesty garden mix, and lo and behold, with the first nibble, they are identical to my Grandma's in every way, taste, texture, etc. If I only had proof, I would sue the company for their obvious plagiary. Anyway, they're really, really good.

[Ferrite]

What is pickling salt? Is it just normal table salt?

[kewpiedoll99]

It's just finely ground salt - the fine grind makes it dissolve faster.

[LeissKG]

I'm not fully sure, but I think it is salt with added nitrates. It is mostly used in curing of meat. We never used it for pickling cucumbers.

[Help_Lady]

Not quite right... pickling salt doesn't have added nitrates. What's more important (other than the different texture) is that it doesn't have added iodine, like most table salt does. If you keep your pickles in the jar for a while, and use iodized salt, the iodine will turn them a brownish color. They will still be safe to eat, just not very appealing to look at.

[Ferrite]

Thanks

[LeissKG]

I like what in germany is called "Gewürzgurken" better. They are spiced pickles, the basic recipe is dill pickles without the garlic. For 2 pounds of cucumbers use the following. 3 ounces of sugar ( boil with the brine ) 1tsp of mustard seed 1/2 tsp of black peppercorn 1/2 tsp juniper berries 1/4 tsp dried chili pepper 1 bay leaf 2 cloves a pinch of ginger powder If you like it hot add more chili pepper. Kept in the dark they will store for at least a year. They taste better if they get older. Usually we used the pickles from the last year. If kept to long they will get mushy.