Homemade Pickles!!
I love pickles! They are one of my all time favorite things to snack on and of course they are a top choice of the kids as well. Recently I was able to score a huge box of pickling cucumbers which allowed me to can 42 new jars of pickles for the year! I am excited that I finally have a recipe that the whole family loves and we can have these great pickles the for the whole year!
This recipe that I have finally mastered tastes just like Clausen pickles! They have always had the best flavor and I am so happy to finally have this recipe to make them at home on my own!
Ingredients:
- pickling cucumbers (I had 50 lb box and made this recipe over and over till all of them had liquid for canning)
- 1/3 cup dried minced onion (you get in the spice isle)
- 6 tsp minced garlic (or 1 head garlic per jar)
- 1/2 tablespoon mustard seeds
- 6 heads fresh dill (or 6 tbs dill seed)
- 1 1/2 quarts water
- 2 cups cider vinegar (or white vinegar will work as well)
- 1/2 tsp peppercorn
- 1/2 cup canning salt or Kosher Salt (table salt will NOT work)
** I will post this recipe for canning. IF you don’t want to can these pickles then they will work great by placing all the ingredients into a gallon pickle jar. (Use the steps below but with the gallon jar.) After they are done and you have poured the liquid over the pickles you can leave them on the counter for 3 days. Flip them upside down and right side up again often to get the flavor throughout the pickles. After three days place in the refrigerator! YUM!
Please know that to get the Clausen flavor it is best to do this. BUT I like to can so that is what I do. You will lose a lot of the Clausen flavor after you water bath the pickles but they are still Delicious!!!
1. Before canning you will need to wash cucumbers and then add them to cold Ice Water. This will help give them that crisp snap!
As the pickles are soaking in ice water you can start to prepare the jars for canning.
Make sure your jars are washed and clean. Place 1 tsp peppercorn and 1 tsp of Dill Seed into each jar (1 head of dill works as well if you have fresh dill). Also I make sure to use Ball’s Pickle Crisp to help the pickles stay crispy after canning. YOU DO NOT need this if you are not canning your pickles. You can purchase Ball’s Pickle Crisp in the canning aisle at your local grocery store.
After placing the peppercorn, dill seed and Pickle Crisp in each jar I start to slice my pickles and stuff in jars. I like to slice them in quarters as well as slices for hamburgers. The choice is yours!
Once jars are ready you will want to start the liquid! Place minced onion, garlic, mustard seed, vinegar, water and salt in sauce pan. Bring to a boil and stir until salt is fully dissolved.
Turn off heat and let cool. Pour liquid in jars over pickles leaving a 1/4″ headspace.
Once liquid is in jars go around the inside of jars with a butter knife. This allows any air bubbles in the jars to come to the top before canning. Add more liquid if needed.
Process in boiling water canner. Please refer to your Ball book for times! You will need to adjust for your altitude. Here in Colorado (in my part of the state) I have to process for 20 minutes.
Thanks for the recipe. I have never had much success making dill pickles so I usually stick to making sweet pickles. I’ll give your recipe a try. Pinning.