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Title: Dave's Dill Pickles
Categories: Pickle Appetizer
Yield: 1 Gallon
| US MEASUREMENTS | ||
| 4 | lb | Pickling Cucumbers |
| 8 | Dill heads | |
| 8 | cl | Garlic |
| 8 | c | Water |
| 2 | c | White vinegar |
| 1/2 | c | Pickling salt |
| 1/2 | ts | Crushed red pepper |
| 4 | ts | Whole mustard seed |
| UK MEASUREMENTS | ||
| 1 | kg | Pickling Cucumbers |
| 8 | Dill heads | |
| 8 | cl | Garlic |
| 2 | l | Water |
| 500 | ml | White vinegar |
| 120 | g | Pickling salt |
| 3 | g | Crushed red pepper |
| 25 | g | Whole mustard seed |
For whole pickles, select cucumbers that are 3 inches (7 cm) in length or less. If you can only get larger cucumbers, quarter them lengthwise into spears for best results. You should not use cucumbers longer than 6 inches (15 cm) for these pickles.
Wash and dry the cucumbers. If making whole pickles, prick each cuke a few times with a fork.
Place half the dill in the bottom of a scrubbed and sterilized gallon (4 litre) jar. Bruise the garlic and drop the cloves into the jar and add the crushed red pepper and mustard seed. Pack the whole cucumbers or spears into the jar and top with the remainder of the dill. (You may have some cucumbers left over when you're done here; depending upon the size of the cukes, there's a chance that not all of them will fit.)
Meanwhile, bring water, vinegar, and salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Boil for a few minutes, then allow to cool to room temperature. When the brine is cool, pour it over the cucumbers making sure they are completely covered. Screw the lid on the jar and put it in the back of the refrigerator to cure.
How long to cure: For classic deli half-sour dills, allow the pickles to cure for 3 weeks. For the taste of a fine Polish dill, allow to cure for at least 6 weeks. Because the pickles are never cooked, they're nice and crunchy!
This recipe will also be sucessful if the ingredients are divided among smaller containers. (I prefer having one gallon jar in the fridge over several smaller jars; it takes up less shelf space.)
A note about the dill: I make these pickles right through the winter because the supermarkets here carry "baby dill" - small dill plants which get barely eight inches (20 cm) tall before they are harvested. You can use 2 baby dill plants in place of each dill head and the recipe comes out just as fine.
Sterilizing the jar: My pickle-curing jar is a big plastic jug. I can't boil it to sterilize it, so after scrubbing it in hot, soapy water and rinsing it well, I put it a splash of chlorine bleach, fill the jug half way up with cold water, screw on the lid, and shake it around. Then I pour off the bleachwater and rinse well again. Using this method, I've never had a batch of pickles "go bad" on me.
Recipe and MM by Dave Sacerdote
The only differences between this version and any previously posted one are: UK measurements added; method explanation expanded.
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