I have a serious pickle lover in my house -- as in she can eat a pickle a day for 30 days. Therefore, I need to pickle cucumbers every summer. And so with my sister's pickle recipe I bottled up some cukes. Now there are a few things to consider when bottling pickles. 1. I always use the cucumbers that are pickling cucumbers. This keeps your cukes crisper. A pickling cucumber is stubby with ridges and prickly raised bumps. 2. A little secret spice called Alum keeps your pickles crispier.
Also, I know there are many recipes for pickles. I love this recipe because I first tasted them on a lake beach out of my sister's cooler and they were delicious. They are pretty strong and are a combo of dill and a kosher flavors combining both dill and mustard seed in the brine.
To each pint add: (Double amount for quarts)
1/16 tsp alum
1/2 TB Mustard seed
1 clove garlic
1/2 head of fresh dill weed,
Hot liquid:
2 C Water
2 C Vinegar
2 TB pickling salt
Cucumbers. I can fit 4-6 pickles in each pint jar if they are medium sized. Usually I end up slicing my pickles to fit more into the jar. Pickling cukes are such fat little odd shaped things. Sometimes it is hard to get them into pints if you don't slice or spear the cukes.
Directions.
Wash and sanitize jars and lids. Keep jars warm until ready to use. I just keep them on the heated dry setting in my dishwasher. Heat lids according to manufacturers directions.
Wash and prepare pickles. Many state extension offices say you need to cut a small slice off the blossom end of the pickles. To tell you the the truth I don't always do this. But it is always better to be safe than sorry.
Boil hot liquid ingredients:
Fill each pint with herbs and garlic. Stuff with pickles. Ladle hot liquid over pickles to within 1/2 inch of top. Top with lids and process in a boiling water canner. For 1000 feet elevation and under process 10 minutes for pints and 15 minutes for Quarts. For 1100-6000 ft. -- 15 minutes, pints and 20 minutes, quarts; for 6100 ft and over -- 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts.
Remove from canner and allow to cool on towel or place mat on the counter. Label and store.
2 comments:
Alum?! Really? Does it help keep the pickles crisp? That must have been the ingredient that I was missing when I bottled hamburger dill pickles last year. Tasted good, but they were a little floppy ~
Fabulous recipe! I loooove pickles, too!
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