Home grown pickles

Anyone that knows me knows that I am world's biggest dill pickle fiend.  I could eat an entire jar of pickles in one sitting if I lost all self control.  Growing up my parents nicknamed me the pickle queen because every time they bought a jar of pickles it would dissapear in two days. 

Now being fully aware of my love for pickles, I decided that I was going to grow enough cucumbers to keep me happy in the pickle department for a full year if I could.  The first year we grew a garden out here I didn't even come close.  My cucumber plants didn't grow very well because they were being shaded out by our monster zucchini plants.  The next year I devoted an entire side of the fence in the garden to growing nothing but cucumbers.  I picked alot of pickles that year though I am still not sure if they will last me until I can make more this summer.  Lets just say I have them on a rationing program so I don't run out.

So growing the cucumbers is the easy part.  Make a nice garden bed, plant seeds in ground, add water and wait until your cucumbers are the perfect pickle size before you pick them.

 

 

Here is where it gets a little labor intensive.  For pickles to be their best you should start the pickling process when they are just picked.  If you need to wait a few days before you have enough for a whole batch of pickles you can throw them in the fridge until you are ready, but don't use any that become soft or wrinkly.  They won't taste good or be as crisp.  The recipie that I used for my pickles comes from the Ball book of Home Canning and is called Grandma's homemade dill pickles.  The recipie says that it takes two days to make these pickles, but you can usually get it done in one day as long as you start the process early in the morning.

When preparing your cucumbers for pickling make sure you scrub them well.  Any dirt or debris left on them can ruin a whole jar of pickles (which is a horrible horrible sad thing).  When you make your pickles you can slice them any way you want or leave them whole, just make sure you trim a little off the flower end of the cucumber or your pickles may be bitter.  I've tried making spears and whole pickles and I have to say that the whole pickles seem to hold their crispness a lot better, though they don't fit in jars as nicely as spears do.  I have also heard they make something called pickle crisp if you are having crispness issues, but I usually don't use that and haven't had any pickles that were unusually soft.

So you mix up some salt water according to the recipie and layer cucumbers and ice until your bowl or crock or whatever is full.  Then pour your salt water over that until all of your cucmbers are covered.  Weigh it all down with a plate so that your cucumbers stay under water and put in the fridge for 12-18 hours.  You don't want to go longer than 18 hours or you will have super salty pickles when you are all done.

The next step is to set up your canner, jars and lids and make sure the water is boiling before you ever take the pickles out of the fridge.  Once you get that going you can make your pickling juice which is just vinegar, water and salt boiled with some pickling spice for about 20 minutes.  After everything else is prepared for your pickles you can take them out of the fridge and rinse them very well under cold water.  I learned the hard way that if you forget to rinse your pickles then they will be intolerably salty, so make sure you rinse them well.

Next add a clove or two of garlic to each jar along with a dill flower (or dill seeds) and some whole peppercorns.  On top of that fill the jars with as many pickles as you can fit.  Top off the jars to the correct level with your pickling juice, apply the lids and set them in the canner.   I always make sure that I pay attention to the time when I make my pickles.  Up here in the mountains I have to adjust for altitude, but I don't want to overcook them or they will become soft. 

Once they have spent enough time in the canner I take them out and let them cool on the counter until the lids seal over with their infamous pop.  When I store them, I make sure to remove the screw top of the jars so I will know if the seal has broken before I use them.  Loose lids mean I don't eat from that jar. I'd rather toss a whole jar of pickles than come down with botulism from improperly sealed canned food.