Sunday, August 18, 2013

Refrigerator Dill Pickles - Revised Recipe

Recalling the pleasures of growing and gathering foods and preparing them with care, of relishing the changing seasons ... was her way of preserving an important part of American life and sharing its rewards with others.
Judith Jones

We have been searching for a good dill pickle for years. Finally, last year, I stumbled on one, but they were too salty. So, we tweaked the recipe to our liking, and now my mother, siblings, and nieces love them so much that they will actually steal a jar or two from my fridge when we're not looking. And they are so easy to make

First, you will need to find or purchase a gallon glass jar with a lid. You want the mouth large enough to get the pickles in and out without problems. You can purchase them from Amazon. They have plain jars with lids, Empty Glass Gallon Fermentation Jar with Lid 4 pk  for $22.95 or you can get a more decorative jar, Ball Creative container one gallon ideal jar for $12.99. We make our pickles in a gallon jar, and after they ferment in the fridge for a week or so, we transfer them to quart jars. Luckily, my parents had kept the old glass jars from our restaurant. Now, they are hard to find at restaurants - they changed them to plastic.


    For this recipe, you will need:
          3 lbs. pickles
          5 large heads dill
          2 medium onions, thinly sliced
          16-20 garlic cloves, crushed
          3 cups apple cider vinegar
          9 cups water
          1/2 cup regular salt (Recipe said 1 cup canning or kosher salt)*


Pick pickles that are not overripe or bruised. (Save the overripe pickles for relish.) Wash, and cut off the stem end. Depending on the size of the pickles, you can keep them whole, half, or quarter them.

Boil vinegar, water, and salt. Set to the side and cool to room temperature.



Layer 1/2 dill, pickles, onions, garlic, and rest of dill in gallon jar. Pour cooled brine (vinegar solution) into jar. Refrigerate for 24 hours, and enjoy!

We usually transfer the pickles and brine into quart jars, so my family doesn't steal my glass gallon jar. (They would!)

It's so easy, and they are sooo good that you won't want to stop eating them.

Enjoy,
Aunt Janet (and Uncle Todd)

* Not sure of amount of canning salt - Uncle Todd has been using regular salt.  He had to cut back on the amount of regular salt.

Saturday, August 10, 2013


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