How to Make Dill Pickles

Hi , I'm Alison with the food channel .

Today , I'm going to show you how to make dill pickles .

Today , we're going to use a cold pack method for making our pickles packing cucumbers .

Using the cold pack method means that the cucumbers are room temperature and the jar , although it's been sterilized has cooled down to room temperature as well .

That way you're not dealing with handling hot cucumbers .

You can just handle the cucumbers easily pack them into the jars .

And if you make a mistake or realize you can pack it better , you can just remove the cucumbers and start again .

So that's one of the benefits of the cold pack method .

It's a great way for a person who's never done pickling before to start off before you start .

Be sure you sterilize both your jars and your lids .

You want to bring your water to a boil and at some point make sure that you roll your jars so that you're sterilizing all sides .

You're also going to toss your seals into the boiling water so that those sterilize too .

And now we're ready to pack our jar with the cucumbers .

Start by putting in a couple of the larger cucumbers and then filling in the spaces with some of the smaller ones , you want to pack them in tight , you cook them , they're going to loosen up and you don't want them all floating to the top .

You can even take some of your smaller cucumbers and just lay them at the top .

Once you get your cucumbers in , you want to take some dill , don't be stingy on the dill .

These are dill pickles .

So get some stem , get some flour and put them both into your jar .

You also want to have two cloves of garlic , medium size clothes or one really big clove and pack those in as well .

Now , if you're a fan of dill spears , instead of whole pickles , you can use the same method to make dill spear pickles first .

You just want to start by making sure you've quartered your cucumbers into the sphere shape and then using the same method .

We're going to cold pack these into our sterilized jar .

It's time for us to make the brine .

We're going to use three cups of water , two cups of white vinegar and a quarter cup of pickling salt .

We'll just stir it together , bring it to a boil and once you brought it to a boil , just keep it at a simmer until you're ready to pour it into your jars .

Now that we have the jar packed , it's time to pour the brine into the jar want to leave a half inch of head room in your jar .

So make sure you've covered your cucumbers , but leave a half inch of room afterwards .

Take a clean cloth .

I just took this cloth and dipped it in my sterilized water , wipe the rim really well , so that we can guarantee we'll get a seal , take a sterilized seal out of your water bath .

Now , the jar is hot .

So use the cloth , put your ring on the jar and seal it tightly .

Your jar is ready to be put into your water bath .

Ok , after 15 minutes time to take the pickles out of the water bath .

Now , once you have them out , you want to keep them out on your countertop , some place it's out of the way , but you want to not touch them for 24 to 48 hours .

The seals when you first take them out will be concave and hopefully within a few minutes , it may take up to hours .

You'll hear a popping noise and the seal will then be convex and you're good .

Now , if after 24 hours , you notice that a jar did not seal , go ahead and put it in your refrigerator .

It's still going to be good for you to eat .

Now , when you store them , you can take the rings off or leave the rings on either way , whatever is convenient for you keep them in a cool dark place .

Wait at least 4 to 6 weeks to eat them .

Spending some time in that brine is going to make them extra good .

Even the one you put in the refrigerator , wait a few weeks to eat it .

It will be great .

Your own pickles is easy .

It's fun and it's a great way to support your local farmers for more tips and recipes .

Go to food channel dot com .