2tablespoonspickling spicefrom McCormick or homemade pickling spice blend (see below)
4-6garlic cloveshalved
1bunch of dillat least two stalks per jar
⅓cupkosher salt
1quartof water
1carrot cut into small sticksoptional
Instructions
Prepping the ingredients
Sanitize jars in the dishwasher on in a pot filled with boiling water.
Make the brine by adding salt to the water and stirring well.
Wash and dry the cucumbers. Cut off the very ends of every cucumber. You can then either leave them whole or cut into spears.
Prepare garlic cloves by peeling and slicing them in them in half.
Filling the Jars
Start by placing a few springs of dill and 2 cloves of garlic at the bottom of the jar. Then pack the clean cucumbers into the jars. We typically get 3-4 whole cucumbers into each jar, more if you slice them into spears.
If adding carrots, stuff a 2-3 carrot sticks into the jar. (this is optional)
Add the pickling spices, shaking the jar a bit to be sure they don’t just sit at the top. Pack a few more sprigs of dill on top.
Cover with the brine leaving about 1” space at the top of the jar. Place on lid and then band and secure, but do not tighten.
Put finished jars in a cool place to rest.
Checking on the Pickles
Every 3-4 days you’ll want to "burp" the homemade pickles. To burp them, loosen the lid to let the gases out and reseal. After doing this 2-3 times in a two week period, seal the jars and let them enjoy their time on the shelf.
The pickles are ready to eat after two weeks, but can last up to a year if stored in cool place.
Notes
You can move these pickles to the refrigerator at anytime to stop the pickling process.If you want to make your own pickling spice, mix the following ingredients together for each jar of pickles you are making: