Reviewed: Aug. 12, 2009

I followed the recipe but didn't process the pickles. They all sealed and two weeks later all the lids are unsealing and the pickles are spoiling. I am so upset... they so good that I made two batches and I have had to throw away 10 quarts of pickles. I will try again but will follow the instructions to process them.

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tondam

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Reviewed: Aug. 12, 2009

Excellent! I to decided to go to the hot water bath to be on the safe side last year... I regretted it. Pickles were not soggy, but not crunchy either. After talking to some of my canning veteran friends, this year I am going to skip it!

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Angie7367

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

Living In: Lansing, Michigan, USA

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Reviewed: Aug. 12, 2009

Fantastic recipe for those who may be a bit nervous about canning. I soaked in bucket w/ a ice container in the middle, topped with water and sat in fridge for about 4 hours. I just made 20 qts of whole & spears, and 14 qts of sliced. I stuffed the garlic, dill, peppers of choice, and mustard seed, added cukes, topped with the dill again & a grape leaf. Poured boiling vinegar/water/salt solution into jars, sealed with the lid & ring that had been preparing in hot (not boiling) water, and inverted onto a towel on the table. We did the process outside on the campstove burner, therefore left the jars outside all night upside down. In the morning, all jars had sealed and I couldn't stand it either, I only waited 2 days before sampling! OMG! My excuse was that I didn't want to store all those jars if they were going to be yucky-lol! They are wonderful, crisp, dilly, and so I hid the open jar in the back of the fridge to continue melding the flavors. Plus to hide from hubby, haha! Great recipe, I will share with many others.

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Dea

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Washougal, Washington, USA

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Reviewed: Aug. 12, 2009

WARNING**DO NOT USE WIDE MOUTH JARS**Checking the jars after 3 weeks, I found 5 WM Pints had unsealed! I think it's due to the wider lids. Will use reg.jars next time.** Made these when Sharon first posted the original recipe and they were PERFECT! Lost the recipe, came back and found it changed. Made them again the processed way and they were tasty but MUSHY! (Husband still loved them...yakkk) Checked back again to see everyone else with the same complaint, wanting the "original" recipe. Read all the reviews and tried again today, using the cold pack process. Using wide mouth PINT jars while majority are using Qts. Wonder that and if packing loose or tight is a factor in sealing? Also, came back from a trail ride yesterday with vines of grape leaves tied to my saddle. Will add them to but not sure just how many/what sizes leaves to put in jar. Tons of fresh dill at peak in the garden along with fresh cukes. Garlic will be minced & fresh ground pepper added. So off to slice and ice... Aug.23, 2009 - UPDATE from 8-12-09 Post...Pickles were excellent! THE BEST but........all the wide mouth pint jars did not seal :( So I took the advice to fill a skillet with water, bring to a boil and place the jars in, up-side down so the water covered the metal parts and boiled for 5 minutes. Remove

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KYLEM

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Greenwich, Connecticut, USA

Living In: Putnam, Connecticut, USA

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Reviewed: Aug. 10, 2009

This was my first time making pickles. They look like they turned out perfect (I don't know because I haven't had the pleasure of eating them yet...it's only been 1 week). I followed other people's instructions on leaving out the bath. The only downside is that my garlic turned blue - assume it's some sort of chemical process, but it really doesn't bother me. Thanks for the recipe!

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ready2spark

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Reviewed: Aug. 8, 2009

These pickles are wonderful! I did not feel the liquid would be hot enough to seal the jars, so I microwaved each jar for 2 minutes then I cleaned the rim and put the lid and ring on. I left the jars upside down until they were cool....All my jars sealed. It was not bad adding this extra step. I did not want to process them. Each jar microwaved while I prepared the next jar.

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Cindy

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Reviewed: Aug. 7, 2009

This review is perhaps a bit on the hasty side. It's been 6 whole days and I was craving some egg salad and needed some pickles so I broke into a jar. These are VERY yummy and perfectly crisp...can't wait till they reach their fullest flavor! This recipe is a keeper! The only note I made was to use 8 1/2 lbs of cukes since the last jar was a little short.

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MamaMia72

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Milwaukie, Oregon, USA

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Reviewed: Aug. 5, 2009

I sligthly bungled this recipe on my first time making pickles-- (used pint jars instead of quarts and still processed the 15 minutes, and my pickling cukes were on the ripe side) They still turned out reasonably good! They are fairly crisp and the taste is great. These things I think helped: I cut off the blossom end completely (1/4 inch or more) and scrubbed each one very well with terry cloth wash cloth. Also, I kept my jars hot in a 250 degree oven. They had a 5 hour bath in a scrubbed cooler with two bags of commercial ice and a gallon or so of water. They were COLD! I think with them being that cold, you need to hot water bathe them a bit because they cold cukes will cool down your hot brine a bit too much to get a good seal. Checked with my very experienced neighbor...she swears by a 5 minute very strong boiling bath (starting with time they reach a boil again after putting them in). Her pickles are always crunchy and she has never made anyone sick! Good luck and try to buy local!

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sweet tooth

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Reviewed: Aug. 4, 2009

These are awesome. The secret is the salt-vinegar-water ratio and this recipe is absolutely perfect and WAY better than any store-bought pickle. And you can experiment with pickling spices, garlic, adding hot peppers, etc. Thanks for the recipe - it's the best one I've found!

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Amy

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Reviewed: Aug. 4, 2009

JUST GREAT! Everyone loved these pickles. We look forward to this years batch. Tried some changes but the original is just perfect. (more garlic for lovers)

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JIMMYX357

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Reviewed: Aug. 4, 2009

These pickles are VERY good but mine turned out soggy! I soaked them in ice water (in a cooler with ice packed around them) I made the brine, packed in spears in hot jars. After I packed them I boiled the packed jars upside down in boiling water in pan for 5 mins instead of the hot bath like everyone recommended but they did not seal. I ended up doing the hot water bath anyway b/c some did not seal. Also my garlic turned blue? What am I doing wrong? I also didn't know you can get the flats of the lids wet? I always thought they had to be dry. Any help would be appreicated!!

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Sabrina

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Reviewed: Aug. 4, 2009

I will definitely make this my standard Dill Pickle recipe. Really good. I added about 1/4 tsp. mustard seed. I made spears, just because the cucumbers I had were so big. I'm going to make whole pickles and probably some sandwich stackers too. Excellent. Thanks! I boiled some in a hot water bath for 6 minutes and left some out with just the boiling brine. I did boil the flats first. All of my jars sealed.

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jbbarrus

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Reviewed: Aug. 3, 2009

These are SO good! I soaked my cukes in a cooler with ice and a bit of alum for about 5 hours. I also cut them in spears. I did not put them in a hot water bath... I packed my pickles in hot jars and put hot brine over them and used hot lids after adjusting the 2 peice lids I turned them upside down for 24 hours, every jar sealed. I couldnt wait the full 8 weeks I had to try one after only 24 hours... they were so good already!! nice and crunchy! I will be making these again!!!

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Laura

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Reviewed: Jul. 30, 2009

I used this recipe for my first try at making pickles and am extremely pleased we had a taste test just after 6 days and they are wonderful!!!! I followed the recipe just as written, let the pickles soak in ice water for about three hours and did not do the water bath we are pleased as pickles and pickled pink with this recipe

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Michele

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Cortland, New York, USA

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Reviewed: Jul. 30, 2009

I just finished making about 14 quarts of these pickles. I used the cold pack method and only 4 of the jars have sealed. I'm not sure what to do now. I followed all the details the recipe offered and wish I knew how others seem to have no problem sealing theirs. I would do a water bath to get them sealed but they've been cooling now for about 3 hours, so I think I'd have to boil them quite awhile.

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Rebecca Dengler

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Reviewed: Jul. 30, 2009

I am very very pleased with this recipe. It was easy enough to make every other day as I picked buckets from my garden. Plus, after exhausted research, this is the first dill pickle recipe I've ever made that turned out actually appealing. I did some tweaking though. I soaked in ice water, then cut about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch off the blossom ends. I had a various assortment of cucumber sizes to work with so some jars were made with whole cucumbers, some were made with halves, or quarters of the larger cucumbers. What I found out, is that the skin causes the crunch...so the more skin, the crunchier they are. So, my whole pickles are crunchier than my quarters, but for our family, the halves are perfect. Crunch but easy to eat. I seasoned as the recipe called for and water bathed them for only 6-8 minutes instead of 15. All my jars sealed and I figure a little water bathing is safer than none. Plus, to my delight, after waiting only 2-3 weeks my pickles were wonderfully seasoned and nice and crunchy. My husband, a huge fan of the Clausen Brand refrigerated Kosher Dill Pickles, was thoroughly pleased with their flavor and crispness. He actually rated them BETTER than Clausens and the best pickle he's ever had! It's a clean tasting pickle with no funny aftertaste. Thanks a bunch to the submitter! I'll never use another Dill pickle recipe.

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Jennifer Duniven

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Reviewed: Jul. 28, 2009

Absolutely amazing!!! My first 8 quarts are gone within 2 weeks! They sure didn't make it 8 weeks! I live a very small town and could not find dill sprigs or dill heads, so I substituted 1 t. dill seed and 1 t. dill weed and they are FABULOUS! My friends and family just use the packet mixes. Now they are dying to get the recipe from me!!!! Thank you Sharon!!!!!

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Darcy

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Unionville, Missouri, USA

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Reviewed: Jul. 27, 2009

I tried making them as the recipe was written but processed them in the canner for 7 minutes. The flavor was great, but they were very soft. So, today, I retried them and made some changes. I spoke to a woman who has canned for probably 50 years and she told me both her and her daughter put grape leaves in the jars. Her daughter processes them in a canner, but she does not. She doesn't refrigerate them during storage. She said - they're pickles, right? Makes sense since that's how they are made in big pickle barrels. Grape leaves (any kind) have something in them that breaks down the enzyme that makes pickles soft. I also read many places on the internet to cut off the blossom end really well and cut or scrape off any remaining blossom stub. This supposedly is the source for the enzyme that makes the pickles soft......4 months later, I have been using a batch that I didn't water bath. They are AWESOME! and haven't had problems with them spoiling. DON'T water bath them. Turn jars upside down if you have problem getting them to seal.

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CALLIEW

Cooking Level: Expert

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Reviewed: Jul. 27, 2009

I halved this recipe and it came out perfectly! 1 lb. of cukes per quart is right on! I was bummer out to find one of the jars broke in the water bath. I've never had that happen before but heard that it can. All sealed nicely. I used baby dill and more garlic. I'll be making these again as soon as I find some jars!

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