Kosher Dills
Posted On 15 July 2022
This is a large batch that my wife does every year or two. Scale accordingly.
Kosher Dills
Servings: 40 quarts (see notes)
Equipment
- 1 Canner
- 1 Jar Lifter
- 1 Lid Magnet
- Various pots and pans
- 40+ wide mouth quart canning jars, rings, and lids
- Mandoline
Ingredients
- 50 pounds pickling cucumbers
- 3 gallons white vinegar
- 1 pound dill seed
- Black Peppercorns
- 1½ pounds minced garlic
- 2 pounds kosher salt
- 1 can pickled jalapenos (optional)
- Crushed chili flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare canning jars and lids according to manufacturer's directions.
- Keep the cucumbers in an ice bath.
- In a pot, combine 2 quarts vinegar and 2 quarts water and bring to a boil. This is your brine.
- Fill canner to just below the 1st line from the top. (When you add the jars the level will rise to above the jars.)
- Cut the ends off the cucumbers then cut into coins, spears, and chunks. Leave a few small, even, straight ones for 2-4 quarts of whole pickles.
- In each empty jar add 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon pickling or kosher salt, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 1 tablespoon dill seed, 6-8 black peppercorns. If adding jalapeno pepper rings, add 2-3 rings each jar depending on how much heat you want. If adding chili flakes add ¼ teaspoon.
- Pack cucumbers into jars, six jars at a time. If doing whole pickles you'll probably have to fill the top with coins. Pour boiling brine over cucumbers. Wipe edge, put the the lids on, and put the rings on just finger tight.
- Process six jars at a time in boiling water for 10 minutes.
- Remove jars from canner and allow to cool completely — about 24 hours. Check for seal. If not sealed, remove and replace lids and re-process in hot water bath. If still not sealed refrigerate and first.
- Store in a cool, dark place. Recommend let them sit for 4-6 weeks for flavors to fully develop.
Notes
Notes
- After getting the rings and lids in boiling water, put your oven on at 200°F and put the pot in there to keep them simmering.
- Don’t skimp on lids — we bought an “off brand” box of lids (i.e. not Ball or Kerr) and had 15-25% that didn’t seal. Get the name brand.
- Our spitball calculation for how many jars you need is 80-85% of the number of pounds of cucumbers you bought:
- 50 pounds of cucumbers: 40-43 jars.
- 40 pounds of cucumbers: 32-34 jars.
- 10 pounds of cucumbers: 8-9 jars.
- A lot of it depends on how you prep the cucumbers. If you do a lot of whole cucumbers, you’ll need more jars as you can only get 3-4 cucumbers in a jar, spots filled in with spears, topped with coins, etc.
- Shoot high: It’s better to have prepped jars you don’t need than to use up all your jars and have 10 cucumbers sitting there looking for a purpose.
