My garden finally produced enough cucumbers to make pickles, and even though these are my first pickles, they turned out really well! The recipe is from one of my current favourite canning books and is definitely a must-try. The yield is small (4 pint jars), so it’s easy to make a batch and tweak the amount of dill and garlic. I’ve included the recipe below- let me know if you try them out!
Garlic Dill Pickles
(Adapted from The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving)
Makes 4 pint (500ml) jars
Ingredients:
(For soaking overnight)
3 lbs (1.5 kg) pickling cucumbers (about 6-8 large)
8 cups water
1/4 cup coarse pickling salt
(For the brine)
2 cups white vinegar (5% acetic acid)
2 cups water
2 tbsp coarse pickling salt
(For the jars)
2 tbsp dill seed
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
Cut off the ends of the cucumbers (if you are sure which is the blossom end, you can just cut it off rather than both ends- it will make your pickles lose their crunch!) and cut the cucumbers as desired. Smaller cucumbers can be left whole, or larger ones can be quartered or cut even smaller. In a large bowl, stir 1/4 cup salt into 4 cups water until dissolved. Add 4 cups of ice water and the cucumbers and let bowl sit in the fridge overnight or for 12 hours. Rinse with cold water.
To make brine, in a medium saucepan, combine white vinegar, 2 tbsp salt, and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Into each hot jar, place 1 1/2 tsp dill seed and 1 clove of garlic. Pack cucumber into jars and pour in the brine, leaving 1/2″ headspace. Check jars for bubbles, screw on sterilized lids, and process in water bath canner for 10 minutes.
Sealed jars are shelf-stable for 1 year and are best eaten at least 2 weeks after canning. We find the flavour is best if the jars sit for 24 hours after opening before eating them.
Happy Thursday- I hope you are all having a lovely week so far!
Linking up with Heather today.
Stitches and Spoonfuls 