Dill Chips

This morning I gathered dill weed heads for Dill Chips. Hubby and I love dill pickles so much better than sweet pickles.

dill, basil, parsley and oregano

While my cucumbers soaked in ice water for a couple of hours I worked on freezing some basil, oregano, and parsley along with some dill weed. My curly parsley is doing so much better than my flat leaf and I don’t know why.

This pickle recipe I use does not call to soak your cucumbers, but I feel the pickle is crisper if you do for at least 2 hours.

I leave out the garlic because I’m not a fan of garlic in dill pickles and up the dill heads to about 3 per jar. The pickling spice I use has plenty of bay leaf, so I also omit that.

I use coffee filters for the spice bag and they work just fine.

The recipe says it yields about 5 pints. I end up with 4 pints and 1 quart, with enough brine left over to refrigerate a small amount of onion in. I love onion refrigerated in dill brine.

Dill Slices

4 pounds medium cucumbers
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup Canning & Pickling Salt
4 cups cider vinegar, 5% acidity
4 cups water
3 tablespoons mixed pickling spices
5 bay leaves
5 garlic cloves
2 1/2 teaspoons mustard seed
Green or dry dill – (1 head per jar)

Prepare Ball brand or Kerr brand jars and closures according to manufacturer instructions.

Wash cucumbers and remove 1/16-inch from blossom end. Cut into 1/4-inch slices. Combine sugar, salt, vinegar and water in a large sauce pot. Tie pickling spices in a spice bag; add spice bag to vinegar mixture and simmer 15 minutes.

Pack cucumber slices into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Add to each jar; one bay leaf, one garlic clove, 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed and one head of dill. Heat pickling liquid to boiling. Remove from heat.

Carefully ladle hot pickling liquid over cucumber slices, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Remove air bubbles with a nonmetallic spatula. Wipe jar rim clean. Place lid on jar with sealing compound next to glass. Screw band down evenly and firmly just until a point of resistance is met — fingertip tight.

Process 15 minutes in a boiling water canner. At elevations higher than 1,000 feet, boil 2 additional minutes for each additional 1,000 feet elevation. (my note- a water bath seal works fine rather than 15 minutes in a canner)

This recipe yields about 5 pints.

About these ads