Pickles Part 2

I canned a bunch of dill pickles a few of days ago.  It went well- I’m getting more comfortable and confident with my canning abilities.  However, I’m really worried about my pickles.  Mostly I’m worried that they are going to be mushy.  I did add some Pickle Crisp- we’ll see if it did its job of keeping the pickles crisp.

I bought about 14 pounds of pickling cucumbers a farmer’s market.  The cucumbers that I’m growing in my garden aren’t the best for making pickles and I don’t have enough cucumbers from my garden to can a batch of pickles.

I got an awesome book on canning for the library- Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.  This book is filled with 400 recipes for canning just about everything.  So, I followed their recipe for dill pickles.

Here’s the basic pickle canning process:

Step 1: Clean the cucumbers.  Slice off a little slice from each end of the cucumbers.  Soak them overnight in some salt water.

Step 2: Prepare the canner.  Sterilize the jars and jar lids.  

the canner

Step 3:  Mix up the vinegar solution- vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and pickling spice.  Heat it and simmer for 15 minutes.

Step 4: Fill the jars with chopped garlic, dill, and pickles.  Pour the vinegar solution over the cucumbers.  Put the lids on the jars.

Step 5: Put the jars in the canner and process for 15 minutes.

Step 6:  Remove the jars and let them cool.

I ended up with 12 jars of pickles, each with about 4 or 5 good-sized pickles.  They look like pickles should look.  I’m going to let them sit for a few weeks at least so they can soak in all the flavor of the vinegar and pickling spice.  Then I’m going to open up a jar and hope that they are the most delicious crisp pickles I have ever eaten.  I’ll let you know.