Categories: pickles- relish
Ingredients
- 4 lbs. 4- inch pickling cucumbers
- 2 Tbsp. dill seed or 4 to 5 heads fresh or dry dill weed
- 1/2 cup Kerr Pickling salt
- 1/4 cup white vinegar (5% acidity)
- 8 cups water
- 2 cloves garlic (optional)
- 2 dried hot peppers (optional)
- 2 tsp. mixed pickling spice (optional)
- Use these quantities for each gallon capacity of your container:
Directions
- Wash cucumbers and remove 1/16-inch from blossom end. Place half of the dill and spices on the bottom of a clean, uncracked stoneware crock. (a glass or food grade plastic container may be substituted)
- Add cucumbers, remaining dill and spices. In a large container, dissolve pickling salt in vinegar and water and pour over cucumbers.
- Set a clean dinner plate or glass pie plate which is slightly smaller than the container on top of the cucumbers. To keep the plate submerged,
- Temperature between 55 and 65 degrees F. will require five to six weeks for fermentation. Remove scum daily. Cucumbers will not ferment at below 55 degrees F. At temperature above 80 degrees F. during fermentation cucumbers will become soft and may spoil. fermentation is complete when bubbling stops. (Or cut a pickle in half. The color should be uniform throughout, with no white spots.)
- Drain the brine into a large saucepan. (Filter brine through coffee filters to remove some cloudiness, if desired.) Bring to simmer over medium-low heat and simmer for 5 minutes. While brine is simmering, pack pickles into hot jars, leaving headspace. Carefully run a nonmetallic utensil down inside of jars to remove trapped air bubbles. Wipe jar tops and threads clean. Place hot lids on jars and screw bands on firmly. Process quarts for 15 minutes and pints for 10 minutes in boiling water canner.