Cucumber Harvest (Kosher Dills)

One of the things I've been educating myself with during this process is how to properly preserve food that I get fresh from a farmer's market or from my own garden. This way I can enjoy freshness from my garden all year long as well as have a supply of food that doesn't require refrigeration and therefore very handy in case of emergency.

Before I begin to talk about my experiences making pickles I'd like to stress that if you want to do some home canning of your own you MUST follow proper procedure. All the recipes I use and the ones you should use all need to be approved CANNING recipes not COOKING recipes you want to put in jars. In fact a lot of recipes that have been used by families for years (one Grandma handed down, etc.) aren't considered safe by today's standards. When in doubt a great resource is the National Center for Home Preserving.

Ok, that being said my quest for pickles began with growing pickling cucumbers in my home garden. I can go into detail more about that process but suffice to say I harvested about 4.5 lbs of pickling cukes for a recipe that calls for 4lbs.

 

  

I washed and cleaned the cukes and cut them into spears. To start the process I prepped and added to a stove pot

14 cloves garlic, peeled & split
1/4 cup salt
2 3/4 cups distilled or apple cider vinegar 5% acidity

This is all heated until it is boiling (this is important...make sure if a recipe calls for boiling you do it!) 

While this is heating you need to get yours jars and lids ready. The jars I put in the dishwasher to heat and sterilize them (this recipe calls for 7 pint jars). The rings can just sit and wait and the lids I put on the stove in a pot of hot water (DO NOT BOIL). Boiling will soften the seals too much and cause them to fail.

When this is boiling remove garlic and place 4 halves into each clean jar, then pack cucumbers, adding 2 sprigs of dill and 4 peppercorns.

When the jars or packed your going to pour the hot liquid into the jars leaving 1/2" of space at the top (this is called headspace and again is important to do as the recipe asks). You then adjust the 2 piece lids of the jars and put them in the boiling water bath canner and process for 10 minutes. Following canning guidelines to ensure a good seal! (Remember the site above!)

When they are done and cooling on the counter they look great!!

 

For this style of pickles I will have to wait 4-6 weeks before I can open the jars and dig in to see how they taste! One tip I definitely learned is to start to boiling water EARLY! Even on the power burner of my gas range it takes a while to get all that water boiling....most of the prep time really.

So for an easy hour I have 7 full pints of Kosher Dills that will last approximately a year. I love the idea of knowing they are sitting downstairs on the shelf and that I controlled everything that went in them!

To close if you want to follow it this way here is the recipe I used in it's entirety:

Kosher Dill (Heinz Recipe)
4 lbs pickling cukes
14 cloves garlic, peeled & split
1/4 cup salt
2 3/4 cups distilled or apple cider vinegar 5% acidity
2 3/4 cups water
12 to 14 sprigs fresh dill weed
28 peppercorns

Wash cucumbers; remove 1/16 inch from blossom end, cut in half lengthwise. Combine garlic and next 3 ingredients; heat to boiling. Remove garlic and place 4 halves into each clean jar, then pack cucumbers, adding 2 sprigs of dill and 4 peppercorns. Pour hot vinegar solution over cucumbers to within 1/2 inch of top. Immediately adjust covers as jar manufacturer directs. Process 10 minutes in BWB. Makes 6-7 pints.