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.
