Continuing on my pickle making quest to find a good dill pickle recipe and after doing a couple of batches of bread and butter pickles, I made my first batch of dill pickles. Now I have a very long history of dill pickle failures. The pickles have always come out limp and that just isn't acceptable in a dill pickle! I even tried adding alum (potassium aluminum sulfate) which is an old fashioned crisping agent but that can give a bitter flavour to the pickles and may cause digestive upsets. I am armed for success this year. I have pickling lime (calcium hydroxide), Pickle Crisp (calcium chloride) and copious amounts of ice for soaking.
Pickling lime is a crisping agent that requires soaking the prepared cucumbers in a solution of pickling lime and water for at minimum 2 hrs to overnight, The pickles must then be rinsed at least three times to remove all traces of the pickling lime. Pickle Crisp can be added to any jar of fresh packed (not cooked) pickles like the Fast Favorite Garlic Dill Pickles I made. It's easy to use with no extra timing to worry about. Icing is used in many dill pickle recipes to firm the pickles. Salt is usually added to draw a bit of moisture out of the cucumbers then they are covered with ice and allowed to sit overnight.
Fast Favorite Garlic Dill Pickles
modified from: Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard, Small-Batch Preserving, 2001, Pp. 138
6 lb small pickling cucumbers
4 c white vinegar (5% acetic acid)
4 c water
4 tbsp pickling salt
1 large garlic clove per jar
2 tsp dill seed per jar
¼ tsp Pickle Crisp (calcium chloride) per jar
Cut a thin slice from each end of the cucumbers and discard. Combine vinegar, water and salt into a saucepan. Packing one jar at a time, add 1 garlic clove, 2 tsp dill seed and ¼ tsp Pickle Crisp (calcium chloride) per jar. Pack in the prepared cucumbers, whole or spears tightly leaving ½ - inch headspace. Ladle the hot brine over the cucumbers leaving ½ - inch headspace. Wipe rims. Place lids of choice (metal snap lids, glass inserts, Tattler reusable lids) on the jars. Apply band according to the lid of your choice. Process 10 minutes for 500 ml (pint) jars and 15 minutes for L (quart) jars at altitudes below 1,000 feet above sea level. For altitudes above 1,000 feet above sea level adjust timing according to the altitude chart on the Canning FYI page. Remove from canner. Tighten bands if using glass inserts or Tattler reusable lids; do not tighten bands if using metal snap lids. Allow to cool 24 hours. Test for seal. Remove bands. Wash jars and bands. Bands can be stored separately or replaced loosely on the jars. Label and store.
Bon Appétit!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2012
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