Garlic Dill Pickles- Country Living
Submitted by amyf
Canned garlic dill pickles with pickling spices, dill seed heads, red chili peppers, and a sweet-salty vinegar brine. Water bath processed for shelf-stable storage that improves over two months.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
30 minREADY
40 minHomemade garlic dill pickles with real crunch and a kick of heat from small red chili peppers tucked into each jar. This is proper water bath canning, not quick refrigerator pickles, which means shelf-stable jars you can tuck away for months and pull out whenever you need them.
The brine simmers for 15 minutes with pickling spices tied in cheesecloth, which infuses the liquid with warm, complex flavor: mustard seed, coriander, allspice, bay leaf, and whatever else is in your pickling spice blend. The cheesecloth makes cleanup simple. Pull the bag and you have a clear, spiced brine with no floating bits to cloud the jars.
Pack the halved cucumbers tightly into hot jars with dill seed heads, garlic cloves, and red peppers. Ladle the simmering brine over the cucumbers while it’s still hot, leaving half an inch of headspace. Running a knife around the inside of the jar to release trapped air bubbles is a step that matters for food safety: trapped air can prevent a proper seal.
The two-month wait before opening is the hardest part. The pickles need that time for the brine to fully penetrate the cucumbers and the flavors to develop.
Pro Tips
- Use pickling cucumbers, not slicing cucumbers. Regular cukes go soft and mushy in brine. Kirby or similar pickling varieties hold their crunch.
- Keep the brine simmering while you fill jars. Hot brine into hot jars is what ensures a safe seal during processing.
- Store in a cool, dark place. Light and heat can degrade the pickles over time.
Variations
- Extra garlic: Double the garlic cloves per jar for a more pungent, garlic-forward pickle.
- Spicy hot pickles: Add extra chili peppers or a sliced habanero for serious heat that builds over the two-month cure.
Ingredients
Directions
- In small piece of double-thick cheesecloth, tie pickling spices In stainless-steel 3-quart saucepan, heat spice bag, vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to boiling. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer vinegar mixture, or brine, 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare 2 wide-mouth 1-quart canning jars and Halve cucumbers lengthwise. Pack lightly into hot jars; place 2 dill seed heads, 2 cloves garlic, and 2 red peppers into each jar.
- Discard spice bag from brine. Ladle simmering brine over cucumbers, leaving ½ inch space at the top of jar. Keep brine simmering while filling both jars. Place small knife or metal spatula between cu- cumbers and inside of jar. Move knife around jar to release any air bubbles that may exist. Sea] jars with caps.
- Place jars on rack in 12-quart canner filled with boiling water process jars 15 minutes. Cool jars; label and store in cool, dark place at least 2 months before serving. Store opened jar of pickles in the refrigerator.
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