Canning Dill Pickles – Grandma Ella’s Recipe – Insightful Nana (2024)

FAQs

Can you use dried dill in canning pickles? ›

Cucumbers: Pickling cucumbers are preferred, but regular cucumbers can be used also. Dill: In place of the dill seeds, you can substitute 5 heads of fresh dill (the yellow flower portion) or 2 teaspoons dried dillweed for each jar (10 teaspoons total).

Label and date your jars and store them in a clean, cool, dark, and dry place such as a pantry, cabinet, or basem*nt. Don't store in a warm spot! To allow pickles to mellow and develop a delicious flavor, wait at least 3 weeks before eating! Keep in mind that pickles may be ready to enjoy earlier.

Most fruit preserves and pickles are sufficiently high in acid to be canned via a method called water bath canning, where jars are submerged in boiling water for a prescribed amount of time. This destroys any pathogens in the food, and creates a seal, thereby rendering the jars shelf-stable.

If you choose to use firming agents, alum (aluminum potassium sulfate) may be used to firm fermented pickles, but has little crispness effect on quick-process pickles. Alum will increase firmness when used at levels up to 1/4 teaspoon per pint. Addition of greater then 1/4 teaspoon alum per pint will decrease firmness.

You can easily substitute fresh dill for dried. Use one tablespoon chopped fresh dill to substitute 1 teaspoon dried dill.

Use Calcium Chloride

Calcium chloride (CaCl2), sometimes known as “pickle crisp”, is a type of salt that helps preserve the crunchiness of food. It is used in the food industry to help preserve the texture of canned fruit and vegetables.

Use fresh pickling cucumbers, not salad cucumbers. Don't use waxed cucumbers; wax stops pickling liquid from penetrating the cucumber. Don't use bruised or damaged cucumbers. Cucumbers go bad quickly, particularly at room temperature.

You will need a recipe, most of which will tell you to salt your sliced cucumbers and let them sit for about 3 hours (more is better). This salt treatment draws water out of the cucumbers and flavors them, so it's critically important.

The main reason for sterilising jars is to ensure they stay free from any harmful bacteria or toxins that may build up over time. Spooning things into unsterilised jars can lead to all sorts of nasty problems, including botulism (yep, it's as nasty as it sounds).

Keep the jars in the hot water until you fill them with pickles. If the recipe calls for presterilized jars, boil the jars completely submerged in water for 10 minutes before turning down the heat. In a separate small container, heat the lids (flat discs) in hot, but not boiling water.

How long do I boil jars for canning pickles? ›

Process the pickle jars

That's 10 minutes for pint jars, 15 minutes for quart jars. Set your timer as soon as you see the water start boiling. Remove pot from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove the jars from the water using the lifter or tongs, transferring them back to the kitchen towel or wood cutting board.

Alum is a compound used in old recipes to make pickles crisp. It is no longer recommended by the FDA and current science-based recipes no longer include it. If ingested in large quantities, it can produce nausea or severe distress with the digestive system.

The best way to keep your pickles crisp is by taking an extra moment to remove the blossom from the end of the cucumber. By adding this extra cut, you have a crisper pickle. Other ways to ensure a crisp pickle is by adding grape leaves to your jar. I tend to cut off both ends of the cucumber as I quickly process them.

Alum has little crispness affect on quick-process pickles. Alum will increase firmness of fermented pickles when used at levels up to ¼ teaspoon per pint, but greater amounts will decrease firmness.

For a 3-5″ (8 to 12 cm ) sprig of fresh dill, you can substitute ¼ teaspoon of dried dill weed. The National Center for Home Food Preservation says, “For each quart, try 3 heads of fresh dill or 1 to 2 tablespoons dill seed (dill weed = 2 tablespoons).”

You could use dried dill from the grocery store in a pinch, though you won't have the beautiful decoration inside the jar from dill flowers. Both the flowers and seeds have a more intense flavor than dill leaves on their own.

Most vinegars work well and most veggies do too. You can also had some spices, whole or ground, and fresh/dried herbs too. It's just so much fun!

When fresh dill is being used to flavor a recipe (as it is in pickles, soups, and sauces), use fresh tarragon in its place. To make the proper substitution, use an equal amount of fresh tarragon for the fresh dill, or dried tarragon for the dried dill.