Making Dill Pickles

I love pickles!  Dill, Sweet, Bread and Butter and Relish; I will eat them all!  The cucumbers from the orchard have been great and every time we go down to check the crops there are cucumbers.  It started out slow but recently Lisa was picking more than the both of us could eat so yesterday we decided to try our hand at making dill pickles.  Neither one of us had ever made dill pickles or any type of pickle so we decided to go easy and Lisa found an easy dill pickles recipe on Pinterest.  We went to Newport to buy what we needed and when we got back we got busy making the pickles.
The ingredients were things we mostly had already we just needed more.  We washed all the pint size, wide mouth mason jars and then started cutting up the cucumbers into spears.  After that we added the dill seed and a couple of cloves of garlic (we used minced) into each jar.  Then we took the spears and packed them into the jars.  We made a brine out of vinegar, water and kosher salt and when it came to a rolling boil we poured the brine into the jars.  We cleaned around the rim of the each jar then placed the lids on them.  This recipe called for two different ways to finish the pickles.  We decided to place two jars in the refrigerator and the rest in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes which then, after cooling, they can be stored in a cabinet up to a year.  The refrigerator ones will keep for several weeks in the fridge.  The pickles have to sit for 48 hours before eating them, for better flavor so Wednesday night at dinner we will, hopefully, be enjoying our dill pickles.  Here is the recipe for the Dill Pickles we made:

Dill Pickles
Makes 2 pint jars
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds of cucumbers
4 garlic cloves or 2 teaspoons of minced garlic
2 teaspoons dill seed
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional) (we did not use)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons of pickling salt or kosher salt (we used kosher)
Equipment
Knife
Cutting board
2 wide-mouth pint jars with lids
Large pot, if canning
Directions
1. Prepare the jars-wash well, you know longer have to sterilize the jars just wash with hot soapy water.
2. Prepare the cucumbers-wash and dry the cucumbers, trim the blossom end of the cucumbers, then cut the cucumber into spears.  Make sure the spears are not too long to fit in the jar.
3. Add spices to each jar: 1 teaspoon of dill seed and two cloves of garlic or 1 teaspoon of minced garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (optional)
4. Pack the pickles into the jars-pack cucumber spears, trim ends if they stand more than 1/2 inch below the top of the jar.  Pack as tightly as you can with out smashing the cucumbers.
5. Bring the pickling brine to a boil- combine the vinegar, water and salt in a sauce pan over high heat and bring to a rolling boil.  Pout the brine over the pickles filling each jar to within 1/2 inch from the top. All the brine may not be used.
6. Remove air bubbles-gently tap the jars against the counter a few times to remove air bubbles. Top with brine is needed.
7. Tighten the lids- place the lids over the jars and screw the rings until tight/
8. Optional - Process the pickles for longer storage:
    For longer storage place the jars in a boiling pot of water. When the water comes back to a boil, set timer for 5 minutes and remove jars immediately after the 5 minutes.  Make sure the lids pop down; if they do not, refrigerate those pickles and eat them first.  
9. Cool and refrigerate- let the jars cool to room temperature:
If the jars were processed they can be placed on a shelf and will keep for at least a year on the shelf and once opened for several weeks in the fridge.
If unprocessed store the jar in the refrigerator.  The pickles will improve with flavor as they age so let them sit for at least 48 hours before opening and eating.  The refrigerator process will last several weeks in the fridge.

Check back on Thursday for an update on the pickles.  Lisa and I will have the official dill pickle tasting Wednesday night at dinner!  Maybe we will grill burgers and hotdogs so we can enjoy our homemade dill pickles on those too!