Just in Time for BBQ Season Homemade Pickles

My weekly CSA box (Community Supported Agriculture) included a fun new-to-me vegetable - the Italian Pickling Melon. Similar to a cucumber and just as crisp and delicious, I decided to try out their pickling recipe and share it here on Instructables. Making homemade pickles is an easy process and a great use of the extra mason jars I have lying around, plus it never hurts to have a jar handy now that summer is upon us and there will be plenty of BBQs to use up these fresh pickles in the coming weeks.

The photos are all my own. The recipe came from their site here: http://mariquita.com/CSAinfo/thisweekslist2014.ht...

Step 1: Gather Your Supplies

To make your own homemade pickles, you will need:

1 quart jar with a lid (be sure to sterilize your jars first! directions on that can be found here)

2-3 pickling cucumbers (as many as can fit in the jar). You can also use cucumber, peppers, or just about anything to pickle. Like I said, I used pickling melons because they turned up in my CSA and I wanted to try something a little different.

5 sprigs of fresh dill

2-4 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced

3 Tbsp white distilled vinegar

½ - 1 Tbsp kosher salt, to taste

distilled or filtered water – enough to top off jar

20 black peppercorns, optional

¼ tsp red pepper flakes, optional


Fun tip: I received this crinkle-cut knife as a gift a while ago and occasionally use it for cheese, but was more excited than I probably should have been when I realized I could cut up the pickle slices with this knife to give the edges a ridged texture.

Step 2: Cut, Measure, Fill

The next step is simple.

Slice up your vegetable to pickle however you want - spears, slices, chips - and add them to the jar.

Next, add the sprigs of fresh dill, white vinegar, salt, peppercorns, red pepper flakes, and crushed garlic. This should pretty well fill the jar with soon-to-be pickly goodness. The only thing left to do is top off your mason jar with distilled water and be sure to fill it right up to the brim.

Step 3: Batten Down the Hatches! (The Last Step)

Secure the mason jar by double-checking the lid is on properly once you've filled it with water, then give it a good shake to make sure all of those herbs and spices mix throughout the jar evenly.

Sit the jar right-side-up for 12 hours and then flip it over for another 12 hours before tasting the final product. Keep these little gems refrigerated if you're not going to eat them right away and use them up within a month of pickling.

Happy BBQ season, all!