Making Garlic Dill Pickles

The cukes had been sitting in the fridge since Tuesday and it was now Monday morning. There were five 1 gallon jars of them. I took them out and opened one to see how they were doing and discovered 2 of the 5 jars had frozen. This is a problem we sometimes have with things on the top shelf. But why only 2 of the 5 …..?

I set the 2 in bowls to thaw out. They would be mushy but the layer hens would not care. I’d chunk them up and put them in frozen water for the really hot days.

I still had 3 jars left. I thought the limiting factor would be how much dill I had out in the gardens. Last I’d looked, there wasn’t a lot, I thought maybe enough for 4 quart jars of pickles.

But when I got out there, I discovered the heat had made the dill grow like mad and there was more than plenty on the few plants I had.

I did have to remove several of these guys. They are Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars.

This was one of my big dill heads….

So I washed and sorted the dill. I had cut leaves, small heads (without seeds), and large heads with seeds. I folded them down into themselves as I washed, making them easier to get into the jars.

Next I went out and grabbed some of my fresh garlic from the woodshed where it was hanging to cure. I put LOTS into each jar, 2 huge cloves at least. One can never have too much garlic….

I make my own Dill Pickling Spice. I had enough left over from last time, so I didn’t have to make it. Here’s the recipe:

2 tbsps. black peppercorns
2 tbsps. mustard seeds
2 tbsps. dill seed
2 tbsps. allspice berries
1 tbsp. crushed red pepper flakes
10-12 bay leaves, crumbled or snipped into tiny pieces
2 tbsps. celery seed
1 tbsp. onion powder
2 tsp. cinnamon chips
¾ tsp. ginger root in tiny pieces
1 tsp. coriander seed
¾ tsp. whole cloves

I used my own dehydrated Walla Walla Sweet onion powder, and my own bay leaves. If I ever grow enough ginger, I will puree it, dehydrate it and break it up to use in this recipe. The red pepper came from my helper friend.

The recipe comes from my best friend.

Christine’s Dill Pickles

Makes: 5 large mouth quarts Time: 3 hours

Start large mouth jars to sterilize for 10 minutes. Start lids and rings to sterilize for 10 minutes.

Wash, end and spear: 40 medium (4-5”) cukes

Wash: 25 dill heads (1/3 large, 2/3 medium)

Peel and slice: 10 giant cloves garlic

Heat to boiling:

4 cups apple cider vinegar
6 cups water
½ cup kosher salt

In bottom of hot, sterilized jar:

1 large dill head
1 medium dill head
2 sliced garlic cloves
2 tsp. mustard seed
1 tsp. pickling spice

Some of the cukes were too old. To determine this, bite down on a seed. If it’s not tough, but easily breaks apart, the cuke is ok. But select the biggest seed. Often one end of a cuke is much more developed than the other. The top cukes are the best, the one on bottom far gone.

Pack jar as tightly as possible with spears,

leaving room at the top for:

1 large dill head
1 medium dill head

I use a small spear to anchor the dill heads and keep them off the lid.

Fill to ½” from top with hot brine.

Brine at the bottom of the lower ring

Ready for the water bath canner

Seal and process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Store in cool, dark place for 2-3 weeks before using. Serve cold.

I ended up with 9 quarts of dill pickles, having to go get more small dill heads and 3 cukes from the garden and more garlic.

I used my biggest canner that holds 9 wide mouth quart jars. I’d finished this job, and the laundry for the week by 10AM.

Next job….grinding fish….

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