Every year I scramble to find the dill pickle recipe from Mom and then I realize it’s out of date as she has taken away many of the items from the original recipe.
Here is the recipe for reference and some quantities to determine what to buy next year.
At the Navan Market we bought two small baskets ($6) of cucumbers. They were small which was great as we didn’t slice them. We also picked up three garlic…rods? What are they called? I guess we bought three garlic bulbs. Two would have been enough. Note: They are huge! We also picked up a bundle of dill and that’s MORE than enough. I am not sure if we can ask for half a bundle next time?
Two small baskets filled eight large jars.
Steps for my house. If you’re reading this from some random internet search…good luck!
1. Scrub the cucumbers and leave them in the bucket of cold water. I did this for the entire day before. 4 hours before actually putting them in jars, I add some ice to the bucket.
2. Sanitize the jars in the dishwasher. Mom talked about how she doesn’t do much more than wash her jars for dill pickles. It’s different when it comes to jams and you want to put those jars in the oven for 15 minutes at 200 degrees. Update Summer 2024: Mom called me today to confirm I can’t put these jars in the oven beforehand because I can’t put my pecker in the hot jar! Haha. Clearly she got her words mixed up between peckers and pickles!
3. Put two cloves of garlic and 1 head of dill. We had a lot more so we added 3 cloves sometimes and a bunch of extra dill.
4. Add as many cucumbers as you can. You can also add some hot peppers if you want. Note: If you are the only person eating the spicy dill pickles, don’t make as many jars. This year I went with one spicy jar and seven non-spicy.
We also had some pickling spice left over from a previous year so we decided to put it in. The verdict is still out if it is really needed. I don’t notice a difference so I don’t think I’ll buy any in the future.
5. Bring a small pot to boil and put your lids in there. Turn the burner off. They just need to be warm to soften.
6. Bring two pots to boil so you can speed up the process. In these pots you want: 2 cups of white vinegar, 4 cups of water and 1/2 cup of coarse salt. This filled approximately 2 large jars. I had very little left after filling these jars. Adjust if need be…if you just need to fill one last jar like I did, boil 1 cup of vinegar, 2 cups of water and 1/4 cup of coarse salt.
7. After coming to a boil, pour it in (I didn’t need the funnel if I poured it fast enough) until there’s about a 1/2 inch from the top. I made sure the brine covered the cucumbers.
8. Take the lid out of the hot water and place onto the jar. Take a ring and tighten. I didn’t tighten a lot but enough that it kept the lid in place. As I type this I’m going to wait 24 hours to hear a pop. If I hear a pop, I’ll tighten the lid.
That’s that! I will be interesting to see if our family eats more than 8 jars in a year.