Don’t be Lazy, Make your own Homemade Dill Pickles.

It’s February 29th, which only happens every four years and I’m still rollin’ deep in the homemade dill pickles that I made (myself) back in late August. Maybe it’s not the height of summer pickling, but you might wanna tuck this away – bookmark it – for the coming weeks, because there’s nothing sweeter, crispier and snappier than doing something yourself. For the purpose of this (successful) experiment, instead of planting my own cucumbers, I arranged a secret produce deal with my local Wegman’s dude.

In an effort to make it less conspicuous, we met over by the cheese department and I asked him if he had any of the ‘good stuff’. I needed a case of cucumbers from Jersey and he ‘knew a guy’. I slipped him my number, written on a dried-out baby wipe and the wheels started turning.

Here’s what you’ll need and the way to do it.

BEFORE YOU GO OFF HALF-COCKED: THIS RECIPE WILL FILL 6 QUART-SIZED BALL JARS…I double my brine and lit up an entire case of jars.

EQUIPMENT:

• 

  Homemade Dill Pickles

  Yield: 6 Quart Jars

  Prep Time: 20 minutes

  Cook Time: 10 minutes

  Additional Time: 20 minutes

  Total Time: 50 minutes

  Each summer, I see out the local farms selling pickling (sometimes called Kirby) cucumbers and if I'm unsuccessful, I'll ask the produce manager at our grocery store to special order me a 'flat'. I love making these with the kids and they make great gifts for friends or family around the holidays - a leftover reminder of summer!

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  Ingredients

  • EQUIPMENT or SUPPLIES:
  • Flat of quart-sized Mason Ball Jars with lids/rims
  • 10-quart stock pot
  • Ball jar gripper
  • Funnel, consider a new one, we're making food - not replenishing the Ford Explorer
  • Ball jar glove, kitchen towel or some old underwear (don't tell your wife or guests)
  • INGREDIENTS:
  • 2 dozen small cucumbers (often labeled as kirby cukes)
  • INGREDIENTS FOR THE BRINE:
  • 2 bunches of fresh dill
  • 2 cups of spring/filtered water
  • 1 cup of white distilled vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons of kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons of white granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons of black peppercorns
  • 2 teaspoons or caraway OR mustard seeds

  Instructions

  1. Divide cucumbers in halves or quarters, remove stems from dill and stuff your quart-sized Ball jars.
  2. Surround pickles with dill inside of the jar.
  3. Bring your liquid, salt, sugar and spices to a boil and allow to cool for a second.
  4. Pour your liquid over the jarred cucumbers, apply the lid and then the rim, tightening, but not fully - you want to allow room for air to bleed from the jars while you boil.
  5. NOTE: At this point, boiling isn't absolutely necessary, however, you'll need to move the jars into refrigeration, where they'll stay good for up to 30 days-ish. I like to seal the deal on these bad boys (boil) and stockpile them for the long haul.
  6. In your 10-quart stock pot, bring the water to a gentle boil, use your jar grabber and softly lower three jars into the bath. The jars will slowly leak air - once the bubbles cease, you're good to pull them form the bath and let rest on a kitchen towel (or the underwear).
  7. Move these to your cabinet/pantry and allow to soak in that brine - AT LEAST 30 days. I was chomping at the bit and started handing them off as gifts around DAY 40. THEY WERE AMAZING.

The water that I used to brine these jars came from my PUR partners, straight from the faucet attachment and that makes me feel good – knowing that those pickles were soaked in water without contaminants. Think about everything you’re putting in not only your body, but your kid’s… AND SEND ME A JAR OF YOUR PICKLES!