Yesterday was my first day of the year full of the manic joy that is canning season. My garden unexpectedly delivered a colander full of pickling cucumbers.
Some of the cucumbers had been doing a good job of hiding and were pretty huge. My job was clear.
Pickle them while they’re fresh! The large ones were sliced thin for hamburger dill slices in order to make them fit into jars. I was rewarded for my work with two quarts and four pints of our homemade Garlic Dill Pickle recipe.
I know a lot of folks out there are intimidated by canning. I understand it… The food police have scared us with their constant semi-subliminal message that the only food safe to eat comes hermetically sealed in jars and boxes barely touched by human hands.
Look at all the things that can go wrong, botulism, salmonella, mold, etc… The truth is, though, that canning is an incredibly safe and economical way to provide outstanding food for your table.
I’ve put together a little primer on making garlic dill pickles; by far the easiest thing outside of jam to can.
Dill Pickle Recipe Primer
There are really only three things you need to do to ensure successful pickles.
- Keep everything clean.
- Use the freshest produce available.
- Keep your hands impeccably clean. As in Howard Hughes clean.
For starters, you’ll need intact glass canning jars that come with new two part lids. The ones with hinge lids are pretty, but they don’t seal as consistently…
For now, leave those for short term storage. How many will you need?
That depends on how many pickling cucumbers you have. One peck of pickling cucumbers yields approximately 12 quart jars of pickles.
I’ll give the recipe in a “per quart” format. That will make it easy for you to scale up to however many cukes you have available.
…And forgive me if this sounds obvious, but to make sure you’ll get nice, crunchy pickles you need to buy pickling cucumbers. Salad or slicing cucumbers, while delicious, don’t hold up to the canning process as well and yield softer pickles.
They’re not bad, they’re just not as good as they could be. How do you know you’re in possession of pickling cucumbers? If you slice one open you should not see many seeds; if there are seeds they should be small.
The skin of a pickling cucumber is more delicate than a slicing or salad cucumber. When perfectly fresh, the pickling cucumber’s skin should yield easily to a knife or your teeth. (Well, you have to test the quality of your product, don’t you?)
To store the pickles, put them in a single layer on a shelf in a cool, dry place. A closed cupboard or basement shelf is perfect. Homemade pickles are at their delicious best when served super cold.
Now I’m going to tell you another thing that seems contrary to common sense. Remove the rings from the jars when you set them on your shelves to store them.
Remember I told you the rings are there just to hold the lid in place? Left on the jar they can actually prevent you from knowing a problem exists both before and after storage.
After processing, the ring has performed the duty it was meant to do. It held the lid in place long enough to form a seal.
Removing the ring allows you to inspect the seal before storage (and refrigerate any jars with questionable seals.) It can give you an obvious sign that things inside the jar have gone awry.
In ten years of canning, I’ve only had one item go bad. It was a jar of blueberry jam.
I had laughed at my Grandma’s advice to leave the ring off, but had listened to her and done it anyway. I went down to my basement to retrieve a jar of something-or-other and saw that the lid had blown off of a jar of blueberry jam.
That is an indicator of a bad thing. Now, there was hairy mold and it was slightly off-smelling, too, but I might not have checked it over so carefully had that lid not blown off.
Save yourself some trouble and do what my Grandma said! Grandma was so right!
Which brings me to what most people fear about canning; contamination. Pickles are pretty fool-proof with their super high levels of vinegar and salt, but ever so occasionally, things can go wrong.
I’ve never had a problem with pickles, but I am not fool enough to think I’m impervious. Thankfully, it’s pretty obvious when home-canned goods go bad.
If you see any of the following signs, or you even suspect a problem, throw it out. Don’t be a martyr!
Signs your canned goods have gone bad:
- The lid has popped up and/or makes a clicky sound when pressed down in the center.
- The lid is off the jar entirely.
- When removed, the lid offers no resistance and/or makes no sound.
- There is hairy growth on top of the food in the jar.
- The contents of the jar smell “off” or otherwise foul or bad.
Garlic Dill Pickles
Rate RecipeIngredients
For each quart of pickles you will need:
For the spices:
- 3-4 heads fresh dill or 1 Tablespoon dried whole dill seed- not weed.
- 2-3 large cloves garlic peeled
- 12 whole black peppercorns
- 1/2 a small bay leaf
- 1/4 teaspoon whole mustard seed
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or 3 dried habaneros optional
For the brine:
- 1 cup cider or white wine vinegar Cider gives you a more classic pickle flavor, white wine gives you a more delicate pickle.
- 2 cups water
- 1 Tablespoon pickling salt That’s basically any non-iodized salt. Kosher salt works well here.
For the pickles:
- 2 pounds pickling cucumbers
Instructions
- Clean and sterilize your jars, lids and rings and a ladle or heat-proof measuring cup with a handle, and a chopstick or butterknife. You can do this one of two ways. Either wash in your dishwasher and use the heat dry cycle or immerse jars and rings, ladle and butterknife in boiling water for five minutes and hold in the hot water while preparing the cucumbers. To sterilize the lids with boiling water, place them in a bowl and pour the boiling water over them. I opt for the dishwasher. Getting a dishwasher changed my canning life!
- To make the pickles, scrub the cucumbers and take a small slice off the blossom end of the cucumber. Taking off about 1/16″ from the end of the cucumber is a little more crunchy pickle insurance. If left intact, the blossom end can release a compound that causes soft pickles.
- If needed, trim cucumbers down to a size that will fit in your jars.
- Now for the fun part (and I mean that!)
- Eyeball your cucumbers and make a rough estimate of how many jars you’ll be filling. Line your jars up on the counter and into each of them put the spices and garlic listed above in the quantities given. Pack the cucumbers in on top of the spices and garlic. Don’t squish the cucumbers when packing them in, but you don’t have to be shy about trying to make the most of the space available in the jar, either. Leave 1/2″ of space between the top cucumber and the rim of the jar. This is called headspace and it is important in creating the seal that stands between your delicious food and nasty bacteria and mold.
- Scale the brine recipe to the appropriate level (Are you making 4 quarts? Use 4 cups cider vinegar, 8 cups water, 4 Tablespoons pickling salt, etc…) Add all brine ingredients to a large stockpot and bring to a boil. While still boiling, pour (I use a ladle for the job) into cucumber filled jars. Again, respect the 1/2″ headspace.
- You may find that you need to pour a little more brine in after it settles into the spaces. This is fine. When you’ve brined all your jars, gently insert your sterile chopstick or butterknife down the sides of the jar to release air bubbles. If you need to add more brine at this point to reach the 1/2″ mark, do so.
- *If you have leftover brine, don’t sweat it. You can save it in the fridge for your next batch of pickles or use it to cook beet greens, or any number of other things. It’s better to make more than you think you need so that you don’t have to scramble to prepare more brine before processing your pickles!
- Using a clean paper towel, gently wipe the rims of the jars, place a clean lid on the jar and thread a ring onto the jar to keep the lid in place. Don’t crank on the ring with brute force. It’s not the ring that is protecting your food. The ring merely holds the lid in place until a good seal forms. Just turn it until it provides resistance. This will hold the lid on tight enough to prevent water from entering the jar, but loose enough that air can be forced out of it during processing.
- When all your jars are filled, turn your attention to processing. You’ll need a pot with a tight fitting lid deep enough to allow boiling water one inch higher that your tallest jar when full of jars. To test this, place filled jars (with tightened lids and rings) in the pot. Fill with water to one inch higher than the tallest jar. Leaving the water in the pot, carefully remove jars. Place pot over burner, cover, and bring to a full boil. When water reaches a rolling boil, carefully place jars in the pot. (It is helpful, but not strictly necessary, to have a spiffy rack for raising and lower jars in the pot. You can also make due with a long silicone oven mitt or a jar lifter- another nifty canning gadget.)
- Put the lid on your pot and bring water back to a rolling boil. Once it reaches a rolling boil, start timing! For quart jars you process them for 20 minutes. For pints, process for 15 minutes. Do not underprocess these jars. The processing time is your safety mechanism. It kills nasties that might be on or in the jars and it kick-starts the melding of the flavors. Contrary to what seems might happen, underprocessing can result in mushy, soft pickles. Ewwwww.
- When processing time is up, carefully remove jars to a sturdy cooling rack over a dish towel. As the jars cool, you’ll occasionally hear a “pop” sound. Don’t freak out. This is a good thing. This is the sound of the jars sealing. Allow the jars to cool overnight. In the morning, use a damp paper towel to wipe down the jars and check the seals. If you press gently in the center of the lid it should not give at all and should not pop back up. If you have some seals that failed, don’t worry. Just store those in your fridge! They’re still good to eat, they’re just not shelf-stable. Label your jars with their contents and the date they were made. They will be ready to eat in 6 weeks.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Reader's Thoughts...
Dan says
Great instructions! very detailed:)
Rebecca says
Thanks so much, Dan!
robert says
i never put my jars in pressure cooker. i pour hot brine into the jars that are made up. lay the seal on the jars and let sit for about 15 min. then i pour the brine back into pot and bring to boil. i then pour brine into the jars and put seal and rings on. i cover the jars with a towel to keep them hot and to cool slowly. let them sit over night and then check to make sure they are sealed. any not sealed go in frig. i have very few not seal over the years. one thing i do. that i don`t see in your recipe. is add a 1/4 tsp. of alum to each quart. this is what has been handed down to me from my mom and grandma. my pickles stay good for several years if not consumed.
Rebecca says
Hi Robert- I too do not use a pressure canner or cooker for my pickles, but I do use a boiling water bath for one main reason; it’s a food safety issue. The jars will indeed pull a vacuum and seal when treated with the method you described, but it isn’t the seal that is the main part of preventing spoilage. The combination of acidity of the brine and the heat penetration to the center of the contents of the jar that is maintained for a proscribed amount of time is the real food safety assurance. The seal just keeps anything that might spoil or contaminate the food from entering the jar after you’ve done all the work to kill any food born pathogens that might be in there already. 🙂 And my mom tells me my grandma also used alum or grape leaves in the jars. As long as your pickles are stored in a cool, dry place with a steady temperature, they can indeed last a couple of years, but we have never managed to keep pickles that long. They all get eaten! HAHA!
Gene says
Check your math. 4 cups vinegar and 8 cups water plus salt equals equals 3 quarts brine, not 4 quarts.
Rebecca says
Hi Gene- You don’t need an entire quart of brine for a quart of pickles. The cucumbers in the jar preclude using an entire quart of liquid because of displacement. When I say “Are you making 4 quarts?” I’m referring to pickles, not brine. Happy canning!
carol Anne smith says
This has been the BEST , well worded receipt for canning that I’ve read. Reminding me of why things are done for delicious and safe foods to eat! thank you so much!
Rebecca says
Thanks so much, Carol Anne! I’m so glad you love it.
Kim says
I used 2 qt jars. How long would I process for?
Rebecca says
Hi Kim- I’m not sure what the difference in processing time is between quarts and half-gallon jars. You may want to check with your local cooperative extension for that info!
Lois Fiege says
What! 1Tablespoon is minimal compared to 3-4 heads of dill! What a difference it would make in the pickles.
Rebecca says
Hi Lois- Dried dill seed is far more potent than the equivalent amount contained in fresh dill heads. That’s why I specify 1 tablespoon dry or 3-4 heads fresh.
Jan Kamide says
I never manage to pick my cucumbers while they’re small enough to fit into quart jars. Have you used your recipe with sliced cucumbers? Do you need to make any adjustments in ingredient quantities or procedures? My cucumbers are the pickling variety, by the way. Right now I have about 10 cucumbers weighing 4.5 lbs.
Rebecca says
Hi Jan- I have indeed used this recipe with sliced cucumbers. It’s good, but my preference when the cukes are huge is to chop for relish. 🙂
Murray says
I have a question.
If I’d like to make spears insteyof full pickles, do I still process for the same amount of time?
Also, is that processing time based on less than 1000ft altitude?
Rebecca says
Hi Murray. You still process for the same amount of time, yes. And the recipe processing time is geared from 1,000 feet down. 🙂
Leanne P. says
I just finished trying this recipe. I will give them the six weeks that is necessary for them to take in the garlic and seasoning before I come and write a review of the final product. I liked the smell of the hot brine when it hit the cucumbers and herbs as I ladled it into each jar. I can already tell they are going to be delicious. It’s going to be a long six weeks, lol. The process was easy to follow with your instructions and all jars sealed well, so far. Thank you for this simple but classic pickle recipe.
Rebecca says
Thanks so much, Leanne, for taking the time to let me know it was an easy process for you! I can’t wait to hear what you think about the finished pickles.
David says
I’ve got so many cucumbers growing out back, this seems like the perfect recipe so that I don’t waste any. I love that you answer all the reasonable questions too, learned a lot just scrolling through them. The cukes I’m growing are slicer types, Marketmore, Garden Bush Slicer Hybrid, and Garden Sweet Burpless, will this recipe produce an edible result, or shouldn’t I even try? They’re really thick long cukes, too, I was thinking of chips and spears. What do you think?
Rebecca says
Hi David- If you’re working with slicers, I’d be more inclined to make them into relish, but I think it’s worth trying a small batch, anyway!
Susan says
Question: What would the spice ratio be for pint jars rather than quarts?
Rebecca says
Hi Susan, just reduce the spices called for by half per pint jar and you should be all set.
lindajernigan says
Sounds like a good recipe.cant wate to try
Kimberly butler says
Thank you for a great recipe and entertainment grandma is always right.
Rebecca says
Thanks for taking the time to rate the recipe and let me know you love it, Kimberly. I really appreciate it. And you’re spot on: Grandma’s always right! <3
Gail Zega says
Can I use iodized salt instead?
Rebecca says
Hi Gail- It’s not advisable to use iodized salt in canning because the iodine isn’t stable in the canning process. It can give off flavours to your pickles as well as making the brine pretty cloudy and turning your pickles dark… You can use canning/pickling salt, kosher salt, or sea salt, just adjust accordingly depending on the grind.
Ann w says
The spices you add do you add that many to each jar or is it for all of the jara
Rebecca says
Hi Ann- In the printable recipe card, it states that for each quart jar of pickles you’ll need the amounts of spices indicated. 🙂 So that’s per jar.
Christine says
Can you use white vinegar?
Rebecca says
You bet! White vinegar is fine. I just prefer the slightly milder taste of cider vinegar. 🙂
Jill says
Would it be okay to use a different type of vinegar for the brine? Like a white or pickling vinegar?
Rebecca says
Hi Jill- as long as it isn’t a watered down vinegar, you should be okay with white vinegar. I’m not familiar with “pickling vinegar” so I can’t say. Of course, any changes in the vinegar will be a change in the end product, but it should still be tasty!
Sarah says
You say, “not dill weed”. During pandemic … by the time I got out, fresh dill and dill seed were no where to be found. I bought the dill weed and am crossing my fingers that my pickles turn out ok.
There are many recipes out there that use dill weed. Please tell me why you say don’t.
Rebecca says
Hi Sarah- It’ll be fine. 🙂 The Dill seed provides much deeper, rounder dill flavour and the dill weed tends to be a little brighter to me. Plus, I prefer that the dill seeds fall to the bottom of the brine and don’t cling to the pickles when I take them out unlike the dill weed. When I use fresh dill, I use both the seed and weed on the dill heads because they stay intact. 🙂
Christina Wagner says
I got into pickling during the pandemic and had the same problem. I took a chance and used dried dill weed and I have had to make numerous batches because everyone loves them so much.
Rebecca says
That’s great!!
Catherine says
Rebecca, I just made 5 pints of your garlic dill Pickles. I was so excited and eager to try that I only read through the directions once, big mistake! I messed up on the canning water bath water level, confusing the instructions to leave the brine level 1/2 from top of jar, I left the boiling water level 1/2 inch from top of outside of jar. So the boiling water did not cover the 5 jars! How serious a mistake is this? All jars have sealed with a popping noise.
What can I do? Please respond.
Rebecca says
Hi Catherine! Don’t panic. 🙂 I think you’ll be okay if they all sealed, but if you want to have an abundance of caution, you can store your sealed jars in the refrigerator. 🙂 If you’re okay with not refrigerating them, please do store them with the rings off. That way if there’s any growth of any nasties in the jar, they’ll loosen the seal of the lid as they reproduce, making the lid very easy to remove. That’ll be a good hint not to eat what’s in the jar. I call it my granny jar alarm 🙂
Linda says
I loved this article. I think I’m going to try this!