I am a rock star. Today, I cut exactly 432 boards for our fence. Yeah, I know--that's a lot of boards! Not only that, but yesterday--along with various and sundry other kitchen experiments which will be disclosed at a later date--I made ten pints of pickles. And these aren't just average pickles, they're absolutely the best homemade pickles ever!
The recipe is very basic, but the resulting pickles are everything a pickle should be--salty, crunchy, tangy. Honestly, we're already into the second jar...and I drank some of the brine from the first when no one was looking....
If you click through to the recipe, you'll notice there's some controversy in the comments about what canning method to use. The poster of the recipe suggests using inversion canning, while the recipe (edited to protect All Recipes from lawsuits, I'm sure) says to process the jars in boiling water for fifteen minutes.
Although, I'll admit that I was tempted (if your pickles aren't going to be crunchy what's the point?), I couldn't quite bring myself to trust that just flipping the jars over would seal them up. Seems risky, ya know? So I boiled my jars, but only for about five minutes as opposed to fifteen. It sealed the jars, and it made me feel better. Do as I do at your own risk, of course, but if you're going to die eating pickles, these are the ones to die for!
I also used pint jars, cut my cucs into spears (to fit in the jars), and halved the recipe. As previously mentioned, I ended up with ten pints. (Oh and the eight week waiting period thing? Yeah right!)
Here's the recipe, in its original form:
DILL PICKLES
INGREDIENTS
8 pounds 3 to 4 inch long pickling cucumbers
4 cups white vinegar
12 cups water
2/3 cup pickling salt
16 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
8 sprigs fresh dill weed
8 heads fresh dill weed
DIRECTIONS
- Wash cucumbers, and place in the sink ( I use the bathtub!) with cold water and lots of ice cubes. Soak in ice water for at least 2 hours but no more than 8 hours. Refresh ice as required.
- Sterilize 8 (1 quart ) canning jars and lids in boiling water for at least 10 minutes.
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine the vinegar, water, and pickling salt. Bring the brine to a rapid boil.
- In each jar, place 2 half-cloves of garlic, one head of dill, then enough cucumbers to fill the jar (about 1 pound). Then add 2 more garlic halves, and 1 sprig of dill. Fill jars with hot brine. Seal jars, making sure you have cleaned the jar's rims of any residue.
- Process sealed jars in a boiling water bath. Process quart jars for 15 minutes. Store pickles for a minimum of 8 weeks before eating. Refrigerate after opening. Pickles will keep for up to 2 years if stored in a cool dry place.
- Store pickles for a minimum of 8 weeks before eating. Refrigerate after opening. Pickles will keep for up to 2 years if stored in a cool dry place.
