Despite the popular belief, you don’t need to be a weird canning old lady filling mason jars just to make your own pickles. You can make quick and easy dill pickles that taste amazing right in your own kitchen! These pickles are nothing like the disgusting preservative soaked shit in jars that you buy in the grocery store. When you try these you will instantly taste the difference of the natural flavor and simple ingredients, and you’ll never want a mass produced pickle again!
Now that being said, you don’t want to make a huge batch of these things because each jar is only good for approx. a month or so. Keep in mind there’s no chemical preservatives in the brine and we’re not “canning” which creates a sterile interior with an air tight seal. Who wants more than a couple jars anyway? Just make more when you finish all of them. I’m sure you can spare 15 minutes.
INGREDIENTS (fills about 2 standard size pickle jars)
1 ½ -2 pds of pickling or “snack” size cucumbers (don’t use the regular size ones they’ll turn out mushy)
2 cups of water
2 cups of plain white vinegar
6 tablespoons of white sugar
¼ cup of salt (sea salt or whatever you have will work)
1 ½ TBSP of pickling spice (you can get at any grocery store and they have it in that cheap spice section where everything is in baggies instead of containers)
.4 oz of fresh dill (about half of one of those plastic rectangular things they sell fresh herbs in)
4-6 cloves of garlic peeled and smashed with the broad side of a knife to release the flavor
2 clean empty jars with lids (I just re-use store bought pickle jars after they’ve been washed)
DIRECTIONS
You might have read that you need to “ice the cucumbers” prior to putting them in a jar or they won’t be crisp. I myself have never done this step, and I’ve never had a problem keeping them firm lol. Just chop approx. ¼ inch off of both of the ends (or more if certain ones are too long to fit in the jar). Rinse them and drain them either before or after, I don’t think it matters. Meanwhile add all the ingredients on the list from the water down to the pickling spice into a sauce pan and bring it to a rapid boil.
Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 min stirring occasionally. Rinse the dill and blot it dry with a paper towel, and smash up the garlic cloves and set all that aside.
If your pickling spice has dried chilies mixed into it be mindful because they can be f#cking HOT! Sometimes I make one classic flavored jar and one spicy jar. Obviously put the chilies into the spicy jar.
Fill both jars with the cucumbers and cram the dill, garlic, and desired chilies down between the spears. While the liquid is still boiling hot pour it into the filled jars until they’re topped off. I use a soup ladle to spoon the liquid in and prevent spilling and/or burning myself.
While everything’s piping hot twist the lids of the jars on as tight as you can. Don’t worry you don’t have to be Optimus Prime, its fine. Let the jars sit on the counter until they’re cooled to room temperature and then move them to the fridge. They need to refrigerate for AT LEAST 24 hours to absorb some flavor but longer is SO much better. I think they taste best after a week or more, but I always start eating them well before that because I’m obsessed with the things. I think you will be too…
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