My First Attempt Pickling Has Been Successful
I've posted about my hügelkultur raised bed in an earlier post, and I wanted to share with you my pickling experience. I had such an amazing harvest of cucumbers this year...I knew rather than wasting anything that I needed to try my hand at making dill pickles. For the record, I absolutely love dill pickles whether it be the classic spears or the deli sliced style. So, I made both.
Process Explained
- I first gathered about 4 decently sized cucumbers and 2 peppers to clean for slicing.
- I washed and sanitized all of the jars, lids, and utensils.
- Made the brine with water, 5% acidic vinegar, minced garlic, dill weed, mustard seeds, and peppercorn. Then brought to a boil for 5 minutes. (Let it cool to room temperature before adding to the jar of cucumbers)
- Sliced 2 cucumbers into small spears and the other 2 into deli slices. Cut the peppers into thin slivers.
- Stuff and fit as tight as possible like a puzzle all of the cucumbers pieces into the jars. Then pour the brine into the jars until it is full.
- Then use a non metallic spatula to slide in between the cucumbers and the sides of the jar all the way around to release air bubbles.
- Use a clean cloth to wipe around the sealing area.
- Grab a lid that has been in a sauce pan of water sanitizing, and place it firmly onto the sealing area and lightly hand tighten the banding ring.
- Place the jars in a pot that has a rack at the bottom so that the jars don't get scorched on the bottom filled just with water just over the lids. Then bring to a boil for about 10 minutes. (*This will seal the jars for up to 18 months when the air is removed in the water bath)
- After the 10 minutes carefully remove the jars and let them cool to room temperature.
I'm really excited to try these out, and I am proud to write that this year I was able to utilize the bounty of my garden. Now I have preserved these cucumbers for later, rather than having to throw them into the compost container.
I hope that this will inspire you to try new things. Also, if you haven't started your own garden...then try your hand at that first!