Brined Dills
Submitted by nikki
Old-fashioned brined dill pickles fermented in a crock with pickling spices, vinegar, and fresh dill. Crunchy, tangy homemade pickles worth the three-week wait.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
5 minREADY
6There’s something deeply satisfying about pulling a jar of homemade dill pickles off the shelf that you brined yourself from scratch.
This is the real deal: cucumbers layered with fresh dill and pickling spices in a crock, submerged in brine, and left to ferment for three weeks until they’re sour, crunchy, and packed with flavor.
Once they’ve transformed, you pack them into jars with garlic, peppercorns, and a touch of turmeric, then seal them up in a boiling water bath for long-term keeping.
It’s old-school canning at its finest.
Pro Tips
- Use small, firm pickling cucumbers (Kirby variety works best). Soft or waxy grocery store cukes won’t hold their crunch.
- Grape leaves aren’t just decorative. The tannins help keep pickles crisp during fermentation.
- Skim any scum that forms on the brine surface during the three-week ferment. It’s harmless but can affect flavor.
- Make sure cucumbers stay fully submerged under the weighted plate. Any exposed cukes will go soft and mushy.
- Wait the full three weeks after canning before cracking open a jar. Patience pays off in pickle flavor.
Ingredients
Directions
Wash and drain cukes. Put down a layer of dill in a large crock. Layer cukes, dill, pickling spices (and whole rocambole and washed grape leaves if desired) in crock.
Stir together remaining ingredients and pour over cucumbers until well covered. (make more brine as necessary) Place a heavy plate on top of cukes, and weight it down with a large jar filled with water.
Do not fill crock to the top as it may overflow when the cukes release water.
Let sit for approx 3 weeks, or until cukes are uniformly colored throughout and well flavored with dill.
Remove cukes from brine and wash, discarding any soft cukes.
Pack pickles into clean quart jars adding 1 to 2 cloves sliced rocambole (or garlic), 1 teaspoon peppercorns, ¼ teaspoon pickling spices, and ½ teaspoon turmeric.
Make up fresh brine from recipe above, bring to a boil and pour over dills in jar leaving 1” of headroom.
Seal jars and process in boiling water bath 5 minutes.
Start counting time the second the jars are placed in the boiling water.
Wait at least three weeks before eating.
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