Dill Pickles

Recipe Name:  Dill Pickles

Story:  Who doesn't love a good pickle?  Pickles go great with BBQ, so ever since I have been bbq'ing I have been crafting / refining this pickle recipe.  I now make them in pretty large batches, as friends and family love these pickles.  Needless to say, they're my "secret" recipe, but now not so secret!

Years you've been making it:  Since 2010 or so

Author / Creator:  Dustin

Submitted by:  Dustin

Ingredients:  

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 Tbls kosher salt (10g),  plus 1/8 cup (20g) for cold water
• 2+ tsp whole yellow mustard seed
• 2+ tsp whole black peppercorns
• 1 medium glove garlic, smashed
• 1+ tsp dill seeds
• 1 sprig of fresh dill
• 2 to 3 persian cucumbers (roughly 270g)

Directions:  

1. Add 1/8 cup of salt to large bowl, add 1 to 2 cups hot water to dissolve salt, then fill with cold water and lots of ice
2. Slice cucumbers on mandolin, I prefer 3/16" thick setting, though this is a personal preference
3. Add sliced cucumbers to large bowl of salted ice water, this helps keep the cucumbers crisp and they take in some of the salt
4. Combine water, vinegar, 1 T salt, mustard seed, black peppercorn, garlic, and dill seed into a sauce pan over medium high heat
5. Bring to a simmer, simmer for 2 mins, then turn off heat and let rest for 5 mins
6. Add fresh dill sprig to a 24 oz tall wide mouth ball jar
7. Drain cucumbers and add to ball jar until loosely packed
8. Add pickling liquid to ball jar until the cucumbers are fully covered and to about 1/4 in from top of ball jar, ensuring that you get the garlic and all of the spices in the jar
9. Close and seal with lid and place in refrigerator for at least 3 days before eating 

Notes:  

These pickles are best after 1 week or more, and at their peak in my opinion at about 2 weeks+.   For the first week or so, every couple of days I will gently shake the jars to make sure the flavorings are well dispersed.  Since they are vinegar refrigerated pickles, they will last in the fridge for quite some time (even as much as 2-3 months).  Though they never last that long for me!

You can scale this recipe up pretty easily by basically doubling.  Though I tend to just make multiple ball jars rather than trying to make one really large batch.

The measurements for the mustard seed, pepper corns, garlic, and dill seeds are a personal preference.  Feel free to adjust to your liking, even adding other seasonings if desired!

Picture of pickles in the salted ice water: