Home Grown Dill Pickles

Over the years I have canned so many quarts of dill pickles that going through the steps is becoming second nature for me.  I have the recipe nearly memorized, though I always double check it when I have to double up or halve things for a batch.  This year I am attempting to do frequent small batches so that I can use the cucumbers when they are as fresh as possible.  Every day that I pick cucumbers I put them directly into the fridge for storage until I have enough for a batch.  I can typically get three to four quarts of pickles from filling a gallon bag with cucumbers so that is the size batch I have been doing recently.  I can do larger quantities but saving that many cucumbers really fills the fridge quickly and makes for a long canning session when I get around to them.  I would rather do frequent smaller canning sessions just to keep things more manageable.

Obviously the first step in my pickling adventures involves harvesting the cucumbers.  I generally like to pick them when they are about 3-4 inches long because that is the size that seems to handle canning the best.  Larger cucumbers still get used as long as they are not longer than the jar and they don't have large seeds when I slice them open.  The larger cucumbers don't fit into jars well when they are whole, but I can pack many into a jar if I cut them into spears.

Once enough have been harvested I move on to stage two of the dill pickle making process.  I simply clean each cucumber with a scrub brush and make sure that the flower is removed from the end.  After they are washed I cut the very end off of the cucumbers where the flower was.  This prevents the finished product from having a bitter taste.

Step three involves an overnight soak in a brine solution made simply with pickling salt and water.  I brine my cucumbers in the fridge overnight so they are good and cold when I pack them into the jars for canning.  I think this helps the finished product to be more crisp.  All of the recipes for dill pickles that I have found usually call for them to soak for at least twelve but no more than eighteen hours.  I think less and they won't absorb enough salt and more would make them too salty.  I usually try to get them canned closer to the twelve hour mark to keep things consistent.


Step four is the actual canning process.  Before I ever take the cucumbers out of the fridge I make sure that I have everything set up for canning.  I get my water bath boiling and the jars cooked for at least ten minutes while I prepare everything else.  I mix my pickling solution and bring it to a boil on the stove.  Usually it takes a little while for everything to heat up and that is when I pick my fresh dill and peel garlic cloves to add to the jars for flavor.

  After I get it all prepared I make quick work of packing the jars with as many cucumbers as I can fit along with the dill, garlic and mustard seed for flavor.  Each jar gets topped off with pickling solution and promptly returns to the boiling water bath.  Once every jar is full and back in the canner, I cover the pot and turn up the heat until everything comes to a good boil.  At my altitude I have to boil the quarts of pickles for twenty five minutes to process them properly.  The jars cool down in the canner for ten minutes before they are removed to a counter-top where they continue to cool down and seal overnight.

Once they are cooled down I remove the rings and test the seals of the jars to make sure they are all tight.  These jars will go into storage for the winter and by the looks of things I will have more than enough to last me until next season.  Perhaps I will have to start selling the extras at the local farmers market!