Garlic Dill Pickles

This year our garden has produced a large amount of cucumbers. I was surprised to find that the variety of pickling cucumbers I planted grew so many and oh so huge! If you have a large amount of cucumbers to use or just like pickles so much that you want to know how to make them you should try this recipe for garlic dill pickles

The hardest part about this recipe is the prep work. Cutting the produce, peeling the garlic and deciding what kind of pickles you want to make this year. I tried 3 different ways this time around. I did spears, disks and for s chunky relish type I also did a fine dice.

Optional you can also add some hot peppers to not only create a spicy dill pickle but you will also have a pickled pepper when you are all done. I had jalapenos and cayenne peppers growing in my garden so I decided to go with those. You can use any kind of pepper you like.

this technique can also be used to pickle other vegetables such as onions, garlic, carrots and peppers. What will you be pickling?

Ingredients you will need to make garlic dill pickles

• pickling cucumbers – or whatever vegetable you will be pickling today
• garlic cloves – whole or grated. I used whole so I would have a pickled garlic clove also
• dried dill – fresh would be ideal if you have it but my recipe calls for dried since its more available in our house
• pickling or kosher salt – pickling is ideal
• black pepper – fresh cracked or even whole pepper corns for a more rustic look.
• celery seed and any spices you would like to add, honestly have some fun with this one.
• jalapeno pepper optional – added for spice and flavor
• cayenne pepper optional

Brine

• 5 cup water
• 2 cup vinegar – use apple cider, wine, rice or white vinegar
• ¼ cup sugar – this will not make your pickles sweet but it will help to cut some of the acidity from the brine.

How to make garlic dill pickles

1. Wash and prep vegetables

cut cucumbers into desired shapes, spears, disks or cubed

2. add them to the jar

pack the jars full make sure they are jammed in there, and make sure there is room at the top for the spices, garlic and peppers. but you want the cucumbers to be packed in the jar tight.

3. prepare the lids

add lids from the mason jars to a small amount of water in a small pot and boil

4. boil the brine

add ingredients of the brine to a large pot and bring to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved.

5. add spices

in each jar add 1-3 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp celery salt and ¼ tsp black pepper

if you would like the the pickles to be spicy add some jalapeno or cayenne peppers. cut into chunks and use the seed for full spice. (add as many as you would like, more or less depending on level of spice you like)

6. top with the brine

pour hot brine into each jar until everything is covered.

place hot lid on top and fasten finger tight. wipe the rim of the jar to make sure you get a good solid seal and there are no spices in the way of the lid coming into full contact with the jar.

7. rest

allow to sit on your counter for 24 hours to ensure all the lids have popped and the seal has been made.

if your seal has not popped you can process the jars in a water bath. be sure to do some research on proper canning practices if you are not familiar with the safety guidelines.

8. Wait

i know this part is hard, allow you pickles to rest in a cool, dry dark place like a pantry or cupboard for at least 3 weeks before trying them. The longer you let them rest the more flavor you will have in the whole jar. let everything get to know each other well and really become one.