PICKLES RECIPES

Brined Dill Pickles

In a large crock (or glass jar) --I use an 8 gallon crock though a smaller
one is easier to handle--place:

half of your washed cukes (leave a little bit of stem on the ends)
Pickling cukes work best, but we aren't picky about that...

On top of the cukes place:

a layer of grape leaves (optional),
an ounce or so of pickling spices,
a bunch of fresh or dried dill (dill seeds work if you don't have the whole
plant),
5 peeled cloves of garlic,
1 tablespoon of black peppercorns
a few hot peppers (if you like spicy pickles)

Add the rest of the cukes and another layer of the above spices

Bring to a boil in a non-aluminum pan:

1 pint vinegar (cider vinegar works best)
2 gallons of water
1 1/2 cups salt (canning salt--not table salt!)

Stir until the salt is dissolved and pour, hot, over the cukes, etc., in the
crock. There must be enough brine to cover the pickles--you may need to
make more. (Brine keeps, so just keep any extra in a jar until your next
batch.)

Cover the pickles with a plate that is large enough to hold them down under
the brine. Traditionally, pickle makers used a clean rock as a weight. I
use a jar filled with water. Anything clean and heavy enough to hold the
plate down will do. Cover the crock with a cloth. Don't overfill the crock
as during the process the brine might overflow.

The crock needs to be in a place that is about 70 degrees or so. I keep
mine in the kitchen and it works fine. We don't air condition so the temp
gets higher than 70 but if it's comfortable for you it's ususally ok for the
pickles too.

Check the pickles daily. After awhile a scum starts to develop--keep it
skimmed off and keep any renegade cukes under the brine. In 2-3 weeks, test
a pickle by cutting it open. If it is the same color throughout, with no
white spots, they are ready to use. Taste them to be sure they are
well-flavored throughout. Discard any mushy pickles.

You can keep the pickles as-is in the crock, place them in jars and cover
with the brine (strain it first), or put them in jars, make new brine and
process them. We eat them out of the crock or move them into gallon jars if
we need to start another batch. It is a shame to process these and they
hold well in their brine. If the brine gets cloudy, take the pickles out
and rinse them, make new brine (without the spices) and cover them with it.
Keep the jar in a cool place or in the refrigerator--they will keep for over
a year if you can hang onto them that long!

Hollow pickles are ok to eat and are hollow because they were not fresh when
pickled. Our pickles are generally made from those leftover from market/CSA
or the #2's of the crop--but appearance does not affect taste. You can eat
the hot peppers and garlic too--even use the grape leaves if you like. My
daughter eats the dill and we use the leftover brine for salad dressings--no
waste!

I recommend that anyone who wants to make pickles get a good basic canning
book like the ball Bluebook for info on processing and troubleshooting.
Start out with a small batch and adjust spices to taste. The
salt/water/vinegar ratio is important, but the spices can be adjusted in
many ways. You can add mustard seed, turmeric, bay leaves or just about
anything.