We stopped at Central Market for groceries the other day and they had these great cukes. Let's get started.
To make 3 pints, you will need about 2 pounds of pickling cucumbers. I have about 2 1/2 and am working with quarts, so we'll see how it goes. I love that it's not an exact science.
Make sure your jars are ready to go. This don't have to be processed so no seal is required.
You'll need 2 tablespoons of pickling salt (you can use a kosher salt as long as NOTHING has been added to it), 6 gloves of garlic peeled (2 per jar -- I actually used 3-4 for my quarts), and dill. You can use dill seed (1 teaspoon per jar) or fresh dill or dill weed. I'm opting for the dill weed. Also, some crushed red pepper flakes will go into the jars (3/4 tsp. per jar). You can add peppercorns as well if you like --- your pickles -- do what you want. Is your mise en place ready?
In a saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar, 1 1/2 cups water, and the salt. Bring to a simmer.
Slice your cucumbers however you wish your pickles to be. These are kinda large so not very many would fit in a jar if I left them whole. Spears it is.
Place the garlic, red pepper flakes, and dill into the prepared jars.
Pack the cucumbers firmly into the jars. You don't want to damage the cukes, but you do want them packed tight. See how they would have fit right to the top of a pint jar? I just didn't have any.
I packed some additional dill into the top of the jars AND added fermentation weights to make sure the pickles stayed put. I owned the weights so it was an easy decision but I have made these before without them.
I had a few cukes left --- sliced, salted and snacked on. Yum. Enjoy the pickles and let me know if this works for you.
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