JBarstool said:
I like dill pickles and cannot buy them here. My attempts at making my own have been less than stellar. I can figure out how to change the flavor/increase the dill but haven't been able to make them crisp. Suggestions?
Can you get cider vinegar where you are? That's what my recipe uses.
This is my recipe:
Make a boiling brine of:
7 1/2 cups water
2 cups cider vinegar
1/2 cup pickling salt
(I usually add a few cloves of garlic while it comes to a boil).
Use fresh cucumbers, washed well.
Use hot, sterile jars and new sterilized lids.
Pack jars full of cucumbers. Add 2-3 cloves of garlic and one or two heads of dill per jar. Cover with boiling brine. Put sterile lid on jar and screw on ring. Process in boiling water bath at full boil for 5 minutes. (Note - this recipe simply indicated to cover with boiling brine and seal, but I found that too many of the jars didn't develop a proper seal, hence the short boiling water bath).
The original recipe doesn't call for hot pepper. That's my own addition, but I like about 1/3 of a Cayenne pepper in each jar which gives it a bit of a punch, but not too much. I got a different kind of pepper for my 2020 pandemic pickles and it was a bit hotter than I prefer. You could use other vinegars, but the flavour will be different. And years ago I got a red ribbon (first place) at the Ottawa Exhibition with these. I've also found that they keep well. The last batch was waaay too old when we finished eating them - several years. But they were still crisp and still tasted good. Since the kids are gone they don't get eaten as fast.
