Monday, July 25, 2011

Best Dill Pickles EVER! (Just like Clausen) (Easy - no canning!)



My daughters LOVE dill pickles and I LOVE to grow cucumbers!  But, sometimes homemade dill pickles turn out kind of soggy and  my girls want them to taste just like they get in the store.  My computer helped me find a recipe that was supposed to taste JUST LIKE Clausen (refrigerator) pickles!  Those are the best anyway, right?  My older daughter (the skeptic, who doesn't "do" all my Susie Homemaker stuff) (wrong!) wanted to try this recipe so I bought some fresh dill, fresh garlic cloves, and we picked the cucumbers from my garden.

You don't "can" this recipe.  Just fill a gallon jar (we used an old pickle jar) with cucumbers and dill heads, pour over the cooled (after cooking) liquids/seasonings, let it sit on the counter for three days, and then refrigerate.  They are supposed to keep for one year like that in the fridge, without canning!  (We let them sit for the 3 days, then refrigerated them overnight and then opened the jar for the much anticipated first taste!)

Do they taste like Clausen?  YOU BET YOUR PRETTY PICKLE THEY DO!  We were all SO excited.  You would have thought we struck gold!  I guess we struck GREEN! 

These are SO EASY!  Even if you aren't a canner, try these!  They are so good!

We made spears but I just bought one of those little cutters that makes waffle fries so we can make fancy thick slices. These are definitely better made AT HOME MY WAY!



Best Dill Pickles EVER (Just like Clausen)
(Easy - No Canning!)

Some commenters thought these were too salty.  I like them that way but feel free to use a little less salt if you are way sensitive to saltiness.

Ingredients:

  • 1 gallon of cucumbers (do not use the store bought regular cucumbers with the wax on them - use pickling cucumbers or garden fresh cucumbers)

  • 1/3 cup dried minced onion (you get in the spice isle) 

  • 6 cloves FRESH garlic, peeled, and chopped small (smash it with the handle of a knife in your hand, then peel it, then chop it) (if you aren't familiar with garlic, the cloves all together make up the whole bulb of garlic.  You want 6 cloves, peeled of the dry papery outer coating, and chopped).

  • 1/2 Tablespoon mustard seeds (found in the spice isle)

  • 6 heads FRESH dill

  • 1 1/2 quarts water (this is equal to 6 cups)

  • 2 cups apple cider vinegar

  • 1/2 cup canning salt  (do NOT use regular salt - use CANNING SALT which is found with the canning supplies)
Directions:

Wash and slice cucumbers lengthwise into spears.  Add the dill (heads only - not stems) into the jars first, then put in the sliced/spears/cucumbers until your jar is full. (Some of our dill heads were very large so we counted them as "two heads".)

Boil liquids and all seasonings/remaining ingredients (minced onion, chopped garlic, mustard seeds, water, vinegar and canning salt) until the salt dissolves, then let COOL (doesn't have to be completely cold, just cool). Pour the cooked mixture over the pickles/dill in the jar, COVER WITH LID TO THE JAR, and let sit on counter for three days turning them occasionally (we just put a towel over the lid - so as not to leak - and turned the jar upside down and did easy shakes, and returned to upright).  After 3 days on the counter, refrigerate overnight.  Now try one!  Crunch!  YUM!


Please do not try to use the regular grocery store cucumbers, they have wax on them and they will not turn out. You can use grocery store pickling cucumbers as they are not waxed.

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