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Tuesday, September 09, 2008

What's the Dilly, Yo?

I heard you. You hate sweet pickles, same here. Yesterday I put up some Kosher Dill Pickles.

4 quarts water
6 tablespoons coarse white Kosher salt
18-20 cucumbers, scrubbed
8 cloves garlic, unpeeled and lightly-crushed
2 tablespoons pickling spice (recipe below)
6 bay leaves
1 large bunch of dill, going to seed, washed

In a large pot, heat 1 qt of the water with salt until dissolved. Add the remaining water.

Sterilize 3 quart canning jars

divide the garlic, spices, bay leaves, and dill amongst them.

Pack the cucumbers vertically into the jars, making sure are very tightly-packed.

Fill the jars with brine so that the cucumbers are completely covered. Hot water bath for 20-30 minutes. Ready to eat in 3 days.

Pickling spice:

2 tablespoons black peppercorns
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons hot red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons allspice berries
1 tablespoon ground mace
2 small cinnamon sticks, crushed or broken into pieces
24 bay leaves, crumbled
2 tablespoons whole cloves
1 tablespoon ground ginger.

In a small dry pan, combine peppercorns, mustard seeds and coriander seeds. Place over medium heat and stir until fragrant, careful not to burn them. Keep the lid handy in case seeds pop. Crack peppercorns and seeds in mortar and pestle (or use the side of a knife on cutting board).

Mix together all ingredients. Store in a tightly sealed plastic or glass container.

7 comments:

Rachel said...

I love sweet pickles =) Thanks for posting how to do dill pickles. We like those too.

Anonymous said...

That sounds great. I tried two types of dill pickles from the Ball Blue Book this year: Quick Dills and Kosher Dills. We'll see as the year goes by which one we like best. I didn't have fresh dill this year, but I am planning on having fresh dill next year. and trying your recipe.

Thanks for posting it.

Phelan said...

Rachel, when I posted the sweet pickle recipe I had a few people asking what if they don't like sweet pickles. I am not very found of them, but love sweet pickle relish, go figure. I simply adore a dill pickle.

Barbara, I have never been a fan of the quick dills. They aren't too awful, but I prefer the fermented dills.

It's me said...

My fermented dills were sort of a failure... they never foamed or anything, but they're definitely pickles through and through. Also, extra salty. :( The extension office told me I couldn't can them in a less-salty brine because the acid balance would be off???? Anyway, we're eating them out of the fridge and they're tasty.

I'd like to try this recipe, but apparently pickling cukes are in short supply here this year. Go figure. Thanks though, I'm ready for 2009!

Howling Hill said...

I've been canning up dilly beans left and right. Mmmmm, dilly beans.

Stuart said...

Do you have to use a special type of cucumber? I tried to pickle some cucumbers earlier this year and after a couple of days they had completely shrivelled up.

Phelan said...

Once they are in the brine, they shouldn't shrivel up. They can curl into themselves a bit though. There are cucumbers that are better for pickling then others, but any cucumber should work.

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