Tried to make some dill pickles last night.


Canned up 6 quarts. The damn things must have shrunk.....I had those jars packed tight!



Some questions before I can any more.


How long do I have to wait to try them?


They were run through the water bath canner. Worried I wont like them.....so I dont want to can a bunch more until I try them out.



I dont think I used enough dill. The recipe called for a head per jar. Not knowing any better, I bought the only dill I could find.


The dill I bought was in a plastic box. It does not look like a head....more like a "branch".


I only used one of those per jar. Thats why I think I did not use enough.



Is there a good substitute for a head of dill?

This is what I used instead of a "head" of dill



Is this going to be enough??

Jim- You need about 20 times that much per quart jar. A few garlic sections and some peppercorns or three are good too. You can google what a head looks like. It grows wild on my back lot.-Mike

Jim, I make pickles the non-canned way. Start with the vegetables, then throw them in crocks like this (one has tomatoes and carrots, the other pickling cukes)



I just use dried dill weed and dill seed, rather than the actual dill sprigs. For the big crock, I'll use about a handful of the dried dill weed you can get at a supermarket or online and for the little crock I'll use about half a handful. You really can't go wrong with too much dill, but too little and you'll notice the taste being off.

After adding the pickling spices, garlic cloves and alum, I cover everything with a saltwater brine mixture (sorta hard to explain how much canning salt to water, but it's about a half cup of salt to about 2 gallons of water, give or take based on taste. Then it's covered and put aside in the kitchen for a week and the fermentation usually is complete by then, and into the fridge they go. They'll last for many months in the fridge.

My wife makes dill pickles, and has done it several ways, with good pickles coming out each time. One of the best recipes is just to use the store bought Mrs. Wages mix. It's simple, and they eat good, so what's not to like about it.

I actually bought a bag of that mix yesterday.

I throw dill, garlic and a split habanero in mine.

How much dill Ed?


Grandma...who's recipe I have misplaced.....always said that the dill heads and bunches you throw in was for looks.


The dill seeds was what she liked to use most of.

never disregard what grandma says

You might be close Jim.
Mom never put huge amounts in hers.
But, it depends on it till is to be A flavor,
or,
THE flavor.

A pet peeve against when people allow the common flavor enhancer to become
the star, ie. pumpkin spice.

I put up 114 quarts this summer. If they’re cut into spears, wait for at least 4 weeks before you eat them. If they’re whole, wait at least 6 weeks before you eat them. Water, vinegar, salt, garlic, and dill is all you need.

Edwin264 what is your recipe?

That's about the amount of fresh dill I use, plus garlic and red pepper flakes. Garlic dills are damn good.

Nothing to add other than I like pickles. Pickled okra. Pickled cauliflower. Pickled about anything. Dill. Sweet. Hot. Bread and butter. All of it.

Klaussen dill pickles are the best store bought. Any recipe close to them would be a winner.

Thats no schit!

I would love to recreate those pickles.

You cant can them and have them turn out that way.

For a klaussen cold pack recipe, you can start with this, change spices to taste.

4 pounds halved cucumbers
8 large dill heads
6 garlic cloves quartered
8 cups filtered pure water
2 cups vinegar (white), cider vinegar can be used but the pickles get dark.
1/2 cup pickling salt, no iodine
4 TBS pickling spices or more to taste
optional 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or a whole hot pepper

Heat water, vinegar, salt, an spices to near boil. Cool liquid to room temp, ( I usually leave the broth to cool overnight) add cooled liquid, garlic, dill, cukes in a container, and refrigerate for at least 7 days, probably 10/12 is better. These will last in the fridge for a few months, but they will be eaten before that. You can also add halved green tomatoes. These are pretty addicting.
I usually "can" these in cheap tupper wear containers from walmart. Super easy to make.

I make these, and the fermented version, I don't can any pickles.

80 year old down the road puts up a lot of pickles and good ones at that. He uses dill seed. Says more consistent flavor but cost more. He also puts a couple garlic cloves unpeeled and a couple dried peppers.

Thats about what my grandmother said Farming.


Sounds like he makes a hell of a pickle.



TerryK....thanks very much for the recipe.

Thanks everyone.

. The pickled okra ain’t half bad either!

Very good Sir.

Yup!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wife always makes both sweet and dill pickles, and has made the bread and butter ones too. She also makes pickled beets. That's all I care for pickled. I've tried okra, and just don't care for it pickled, although I love it fried.

We were at a softball game the other day, and one of the players parents had brought a jar of homemade pickled bologna. I ate a piece and it was good. Wife got the recipe, and the stuff to make it with, but hasn't made any so far.

Me and momma do em, Thai chili, few garlic cloves, and a slice of jalapeño...

I was hoping you would chime in.

I use:
1 cup of water
1 cup of 5% vinegar
2 tablespoons of canning salt.
-Make up enough of this mixture to pour over your pickles.
-Bring the mixture to a boil.
-In clean sterilized quart jars, add 2-3 cloves of garlic, dill, and pack clean cucumbers into the jars.
-(Optional) Add 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seed to each jar.
-Pour the boiling brine over the cucumbers. Be sure to leave 1/2” headspace in each jar.
-Cap each jar with a sterilized lid and band.
-Boil the entire sealed jar in water for 10 minutes.
-Remove after 10 minutes and let cool. Date the jar lids with a marker. Let them sit for at least 6 weeks. Get them cold and eat the heck out of them.

I always boil the brine in the house as well as my lids. I boil the empty jars to sterilize them outside on the porch in a hot water bath canner on a fish cooker. I also boil the packed jars outside on the porch. I let them cool on a towel spread on a table out there. I try to keep as much heat out of the house as possible. Also be sure to use a rack in the canner to keep the jars off the bottom.

These look pretty good and easy!



https://www.foodiewithfamily.com/homemade-claussen-knock-off-pickles/

Homemade Claussen Knock-Off Pickles
Always crunchy and garlicky, this perfect homemade pickle requires no special equipment, no canning experience, and tastes just like Claussen's refrigerated kosher dill pickles.


Course Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine American, Pub, Snack
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 2 days
Total Time 2 days 20 minutes
Servings 80 pickles
Calories 19 kcal
Author Rebecca Lindamood
Ingredients

35 to 40 small to medium pickling cucumbers
1 gallon cold water
1 cup cider vinegar, preferably raw
2 tablespoons mixed pickling spices
2/3 c. coarse canning or kosher salt Do NOT fine or use iodized salt!
4 cloves garlic or more to taste
4 fresh dill heads ~or~ 4 tablespoons dried dill seed not weed!

Instructions

Wash cucumbers but do not scrub them.
Trim 1/8-inch from the blossom end of each cucumber and slice in half lengthwise or into quarters, depending on how large your cucumbers are and how big you want them to be when they're done.
In a gallon jar (or large, wide-mouth, food-safe container) layer the dill heads or seed, garlic cloves and sliced cucumbers.
In a separate pitcher or bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients until the salt is dissolved.
Pour the brine over the cucumbers, taking care to make sure all of them are fully submerged. If needed, place a plate or mug or other non-reactive heavy item on the cucumbers to weigh them down and keep them under the brine!
Cover lightly with a lid just perched on top or secure a piece of cheesecloth over the jar with a rubber band to keep fruit flies away.
Leave out of direct sunlight on the counter for two to four days*, or until the cucumbers taste like pickles throughout.
Fix your lid onto your jar or container and chill. These can be stored in the refrigerator for up to six months provided you keep them covered with brine.
*If at any point in the proceedings "fuzz" or "foam" develops on top of the brine, use a spoon to remove it. If there is "fuzz" attached to any of the cucumbers, remove the ones affected and be sure the others are still fully submerged.

Recipe Notes

*If at any point in the proceedings "fuzz" or "foam" develops on top of the brine, use a spoon to remove it. If there is "fuzz" attached to any of the cucumbers, remove the ones affected and be sure the others are still fully submerged.

This thread inspired me. From left, Kosher, Killer Garlic Dill, and Spicy Dill Green Beans

Just in snap-lid containers like for leftovers?

Yep no seal needed. You can use jars if you want. Super easy.
You can also add bay leave to help maintain the crispness if the pickling spice does not contain them.
I think they call these cold pack. Great not to heat up the kitchen in August.

These are some good recipes to try.

Big Jim,


Are they crunchy?

My pickles and okra gotta be crunchy.

Haven't tried em yet.

I guess you are supposed to wait a while first.

10-4.

I’ll need a report.

I’ve struck out I’ve over the years trying pickles and okra. Good vinegar taste. But soft. Not the vlasic crunch.

Side note. My auntie makes the old fashion bread and butter sweet pickles. Kind you put the plate over the 5 gal bucket. Off the chain...

Alum will get pickles crunchy. You don't need much, maybe a tablespoon per few quarts of brine.

I have some half-sour pickles doing their thing in the fridge.

Jim, not to derail this pickle discussion but I was in Great Falls yesterday and saw a road sign to Havre. If you felt a great disturbance in the force, that was me. Nothing to do with pickles...

May the pickle force be with you.....

All of those recipes sound good, but being impatient with recipes like I am I use Mrs.Wage's mixes. I also have some that stuff made for crisping up your pickles and it works good.
I have been canning for three years now and not one person has figured out that I am not using some mix that my Mother or Grandmother used.
Mrs. Wage's Bread and Butter mix is real good if you like them sweet!
Jim, my mom and grandma always used about the same amount of dill you pictured!
If I were you, I would sneak a taste before 6 weeks like they say! Just use them like refrigerator pickles.

Ken

I opened a jar for lunch.


I was very pleased!


Crunchy too.


They are kind of a Kosher style with garlic and mustard seed. Used the Ball Kosher style recipe....minus the hot pepper....and less than the recommended amount of dill.


Daniel boy liked them enough to have three.

Vacuum seal them and they are ready to eat in 4-6 days. Foodsaver vacuum canisters or that lid rig they sell for regular wide mouth mason jars. I'm too impatient to wait for good pickles. Cucumbers exploded this year in the garden. I put up 20 jars.

Just opened a different type of pickle jar.

A quart of pickled eggs I put up a year ago.

Well....9-15-18....almost a year.

These are good too.

Wait a minute.

You canned pickled eggs?


Was that a recipe, or a Jim-ovation.

Never heard of that, it's interesting.

Haha!

Nothing that sophisticated.


I just forgot about them for a year in my folk's beer fridge!

Are regular ol' salad cukes suitable for pickles ?

I have used salad cucmbers for sliced dills or sliced bread and butter.


They make better refrigerator pickles than they do canned.

I guess the freshness matters....but they turn out a little limp. Taste fine though.



Anyway......the year old egg and some new pickled beets.

Beef was ours too....ground up for sandwiches.



The bread and awesome cheese was purchased.

What did you mix your burger with for sandwiches?