This morning I made two batches of pickles using tried-and-true recipes from last summer. These recipes were the two out of four that I made in 2013 that we liked so I knew making these for the pantry would not be a waste of time or space.
The first was using the Ball Kosher Dill Pickle Mix that they sell in the stores. I know this is sort of like cheating, but last year was my first time making pickles and I wanted to ease myself into it.
The second batch I made came from a recipe I found on the internet from The Complete Book of Year-Round Small-Batch Preserving for Fast Favorite Garlic Dill Pickles. The only change I made to them was to add the Ball Pickle Crisp granules. Although the pickles were very tasty, they were a bit soggy. I’m hoping that the crisping agent will firm them up a bit.
Fast Favorite Garlic Dill Pickles
- 12-16 Pickling Cucumbers
- 2 Cups White Vinegar
- 2 Cups Water
- 2 Tbsp. Pickling Salt
- 4 Heads Fresh Dill
- 4 Small Cloves Garlic
- Ball Pickle Crisp Granules
Trim ends of cucumbers. Cut into quarters.
Combine vinegar, water, and salt in saucepan and bring to boil.
Remove hot jars from canner. Place 1 head fresh dill and 1 clove garlic into each jar. Pack cucumbers tightly into jars. Top cucumbers with heaping 1/4 tsp. Crisping Granules. Pour boiling vinegar mixture over cucumbers to 1/2 inch of rim. Process 10 minutes per pint.
This recipe makes 4 pint size jars. I have several other pickle recipes I want to try, but if I don’t find one that I like better than these two, I will probably make another batch of each.
These two recipes used about 2/3 of the cucumbers I picked the other day. The a-frame is still full of flowers and baby cucumbers so next week there will definitely be more for the picking and more for the pickling, and for this I am — Simply Grateful.
Simply Grateful Housewife 
Just pinned this for later; I am hoping for success with my fall crop of cucumbers. Thanks!
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.
Looks delicious, Matilda.
Ever try pickles with no vinegar?
I just published this article about my Grandma’s pickle recipe.
Grandma’s pickles.
She also put carrots and celery in the jars for color.
What do you think? 🙂
Hey Lenny. Thanks for stopping by.
I printed off your recipe and am definitely game. I’ll give this one a shot as soon as I harvest some more cucumbers from the garden, which should be by the weekend.
Just picked some fresh carrots from the garden today, so they are definitely going in the jars.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I can’t wait to taste them.