Hi All- I'm wondering if anyone has a good dill pickle recipe. I don't care if it's for sliced or whole. I've used the Ball Blue Book recipe for Dill Pickles the last two years and the pickles have been awful. I have great success with bread & butter pickles, but would like to branch out. TIA!
This is from "The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving." These are some of the best Garlic Dill Pickles I have ever eaten!
Traditional Garlic Dill Pickles
16-20 small pickling cucumbers (about 3 lb) 8 cups water 1/4 cup pickling salt 2 cups white vinegar 2 cups water 2 tablespoons pickling salt 4 large heads fresh dill or 2 tablespoons dill seed 4 small garlic cloves
Cut a thin slice from the ends of each cucumber. Place cucumbers in a non-reactive container. Combine 4 cups water and 1/4 cup salt in a large bowl stirring until dissolved. Add 4 cups ice water and pour over cucumbers. Let stand for 12 hours in a cool place; drain and rinse under cold water.
Combine vinegar, 2 cups water and 2 tablespoons salt in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan and bring to a boil.
Remove hot jars from canner. Place 1 head fresh dill, or 1-1/2 teaspoons dill seed, and 1 clove garlic in each pint jar. Pack cucumbers into jars and pour boiling vinegar mixture over cucumbers to within 1/2 inch of rim. Process for 10 minutes for pint jars and 15 mintues for quart jars* (adjust for altitude in your area).
Makes 4 pint jars.
*Double the amount of dill and garlic in each jar for quart jars.