Homemade Pickles
Cool and crunchy, delightfully sour and capable of going from snack to sandwich without a hitch — that’s what I call a good pickle. Did you know that they’re a cinch to make at home? You don’t even need to set aside the afternoon; you can make a few pint jars in less than thirty minutes. Here’s everything you need to know to make your own batch of homemade dill pickles right now.
Ingredients:
- 24 (or so) small 4″-5″ pickling cucumbers
- 9 cloves garlic, ends removed and smashed
- 9 bay leaves
- 2 1/2 tbls pickling spice(cloves, coriander, allspice, pepper, mustard seeds)
- Fresh Dill
- 4 tbls large granule sea salt (kosher salt)
Method:
Clean 3 quart sized mason jars.
Gently clean and remove flower ends from cucumbers.
To each quart sized mason jar, stack the bottom with as many cucumbers as you can fit.
Divide the pickling spice between the jars.
To each jar, add 3 garlic cloves, and 3 bay leaves.
Add a good amount of dill to each jar, then fill each jar with as many more cucumbers as you can fit. Do not allow the cucumbers to go up into the band area. Make sure there’s 1″ headspace between the top of the jar and the lid.
On the stovetop, heat 1 quart of filtered water with 4 tbls of salt until it dissolves. Once the salt dissolves into the water, remove from heat. Add 1 1/3 cups of the salt solution brine to each jar.
Fill the remainder of the jars with enough filtered water to cover all the ingredients.
Place a lid on each jar and give it a good shake to mix the water and salt brine solution. Make sure to check after shaking that all the ingredients are submerged.
Place the jar in a cool dark place for 2 weeks making sure to burp the jar after 7 days.
