Pickle Recipe

We use the hot bath canning method for pickles. This will make about 8 quarts of pickles.

Ingredients

Enough cucumbers to fill 8 quarts.

Brine

Spice Mixture

Add Ins/Jar

Directions

Prepare for the canning by washing 12 quart jars an rings, and making sure you have lids.

Pour water into a large canning pot such that the water is 3/4 up the side of an inserted empty quart bottle. When you insert the bottles, the water will raise, and should cover the bottles by one inch. Heat the water unitl it boils.

In another large pot prepare and heat the brine, by pouring in the vinegar, water and salt, and heat until it boils.

While water is heating, prepare the spice mixture. Use a coffee grinder to crack up the whole black pepper so that it is coarse. Add the black pepper, mustard seeds, and read pepper flaces to a small bowl and set asside. If you are not using fresh dill, then add dill seeds to the mixture.

Wash the dill springs, and dehusk the garlic cloves, and set asside.

Wash and cut up the cucumbers. If cutting lengthwise, make sure that they fit in the jar, and are 1/2 inch from the top, otherwise cut them in half. Stuff them in the jars, adding 1 teaspoon of the spice mixture, and filling them with hot brine up to 1/2 inch from the top of the jar. Use a canning funnel as you are pouring in the Brine.

Make sure the tops of the jars are clean so that nothing will obstruct the lids from sealing, and place on the lid and the rings. Screw on the rings, until they are snug, but not tight. If the rings are tight they will not seal. Better loose than too tight. The rings merely keep the lids in place, and have no function in sealing the lids.

Insert the jars into the boiling water. The water will cool down, and stop boiling, because of the thermal mass of the inserted jars. The water should cover the jars by at least 1 inch, if it doesn't then add water. Wait for the water to heat up and boil again. Once it starts boiling, set the timer, and cook for the appropriate time. We live in Utah, which is very high up so water boils at 90°C (194°F), so the processing time is extended to 15 minutes, after the bath starts boiling. At lower altitudes, this processing time can be as short as 10 minutes. Please also note that air bubbles come out of the jars, and so to determine if the bath is boiling look for bubbles coming from the bottom fo the pan. You can also use a food thermometer to determine if the water is close to boiling. You will have a thermal gradient in the pot, as the water at the bottom will be hotter than that at the top.

Once the jars have been processed for the correct time, pull them out of the bath, and place on the counter. Leave them alone, and don't touch them. As they cool you will hear the lids ping, ans they are sucked into place by the vacuum of cooling steam.

Use the following ratio for a custom amount of brine: