Pickles in Jars. a recipe

Last night after I got home from some errands with the girls, martin took my hand and led me into the kitchen where I found (much to my delight) four boxes of cucumbers! they were various shapes and sizes, but the smallest were the size of my index finger. “so you wanna can some pickles tomorrow?” he asked. “Of course!” said I, and so here I am today, to tell you how I did it… because I’m very proud of myself. and to prove it, here’s another before and after picture.

I’ve never canned pickles before, actually my first canning experience by myself was with the tomatoes last saturday, so I’m a complete newbie! straight away I looked up recipes on the food network to get good ideas for ingredients, and then USDA approved guidelines for the actual canning/bottling process. using all that information I’ve put together this recipe, and it is deelicious! if I do say so myself:)

to prep for the whole canning I did obvious things:

• added my cucumbers to a sink of cold water to soak for a few minutes.
• collected my ingredients and started my brine heating up.
• started my steamer heating up.
• got my bottles lids off and ready on a counter.
• gently scrubbed all the cucumbers, removed the ‘stems’, and divided them by size into two different bowls.

Because of the various sizing of my cucumbers I chose to do mostly whole pickles (with the tiny ones), than a few spears (the medium ones, sliced into lengthwise quarters), and than two or three bottles of slices with the leftover big ones. i repeated the recipe three times for all my pickles, and the whole process from start to finish took less than two hours. Unbelievable!

Now here is the recipe!

Em’s Blue Ribbon Dill Pickles (hehe)

Crunchy, zesty and a real crowd-pleaser, to me this is a classic dill pickle. It can be eaten after a 24 hour waiting period, but will continue to become more flavorful with time.
Makes 7 quarts
Approx. 3 dozen medium-sized pickling cucumbers,
for Brine:

• 6 cups distilled white vinegar
• 6 cups water
• approx 3 tbsp dill seed
• 1 tsp yellow mustard seed

Into each clean* wide-mouth quart jar:

• lay the jar sideways and stack cucumbers atop one another till the jar is filled, with 1 inch free space on top.
• 2 peeled garlic cloves or 2 teaspoons chopped or minced garlic.
• a teaspoon of dill seed.
• large pinch (approx. 1 1/2 teaspoons) of dill weed.
• large pinch of sea salt
• 4-6 whole white peppercorns

In a stock pot, combine vinegar, water, dill seeds and mustard seeds. Bring to a boil, and then pour over cucumbers, leaving ½”-1″ head space.
Seal with sterilized lids according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. no more, no less.
All ingredients to the pickle jar itself (before the brine) are optional: more or less as desired.
*Some canning guidelines state that it is unnecessary to sterilize the jars if they are going to be processed for 10 OR MORE minutes in a boiling water bath.
**If you’re using fresh dill weed, it is important to trim off the blossom end, as it contains enzymes that can make pickles undesirably soft.
let sit for at least 24 hours before consuming.
ENJOY!

xo, Emily