How to Make Kosher Dill Pickles
It's pickle making season and time to learn How To Make Kosher Dill Pickles. I had a chance to make some canned pickles for the first time. Up until now I have only made Refrigerator Garlic Dill Pickles. This summer I decided to make canned kosher dill pickles instead. So I wrote this How To Make Kosher Dill Pickles for anyone else who wants to try their hand at making homemade pickles.
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I made the Kosher Dill Pickle recipe from the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving. I can't stress enough how important it is to following a safe canning recipe when you are preserving food that your family and friends will be consuming.
Always always follow canning recipes from a reliable source. That means forget about grandmas famous dill pickle recipe. Yes, maybe you've made it many times. Maybe your mother made it many times. But do you really want to gamble with a family members life?
I wanted a variety of homemade pickles so I made a few jars of Kosher Dill Pickles hamburger slices and Kosher Dill Pickles sandwich slices.
Making homemade kosher dill pickles sandwich slices and hamburger slices is very easy to do if you have a mandoline vegetable slicer. You could probably make the hamburger slices without one, but you could never slice the cucumbers evenly enough by hand to make the sandwich slices.
You can purchase a mandoline vegetable slicer for under $20 on Amazon. Then once you make your homemade Kosher Dill sandwich slices you could also make my Crock Pot Vegetable Lasagna recipe.
How to Make Kosher Dill Pickles
- 8 pounds Kirby cucumbers or pickling cucumbers
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup Ball Salt for Pickling & Preserving
- 1 quart 5% Vinegar
- 1 quart water
- 3 Tablespoons Ball Mixed Pickling Spice
- 3 teaspoons mustard seed
- 7 heads of dill
- 7 bay leaves
- 7 cloves garlic, peeled
- 7 red hot peppers
- Ball Pickling Crisp
- cheesecloth
- Wash and prepare jars and lids following safe canning practices.
- Rinse the cucumbers and peppers in cold water. Drain.
- Trim each end off the cucumbers.
- Slice the cucumbers into sandwich slices or rounds using a mandoline.
- Or cut cucumbers into quarters if you'd like.
- Tie the Ball Pickling Spices into a square of cheesecloth.
- Secure the spice bag with a rubber band.
- Combine the sugar, salt, vinegar, and water in a saucepan.
- Add spice bag and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
- Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Remove spice bag.
- Working with 2 hot jars at a time place ½ teaspoon mustard seed, one head of dill, 1 bay leaf, 1 clove of garlic,
- and one pepper in the bottom of each jar.
- Pack the cucumber slices, rounds or wedges into the jar being sure to leave ½-inch head space (trim pickle slices or wedges if needed).
- To each jar add ⅛ teaspoon of Pickle Fresh if using.
- Carefully ladle the hot pickling liquid into the jar leaving ½-inch head space.
- Remove air bubbles.
- Add enough pickling liquid to bring the head space back to ½ if needed.
- Wipe rims and place a flat lid and a band on the jar and tighten just to finger tight.
- Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.
How to Make Kosher Dill Pickles
Equipment
- Pint Canning Jars
Ingredients
- 8 pounds Kirby cucumbers or pickling cucumbers
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup Ball Salt for Pickling & Preserving
- 1 quart 5% Vinegar
- 1 quart water
- 3 Tablespoons Ball Mixed Pickling Spice
- 3 teaspoons mustard seed
- 7 sprigs of fresh dill
- 7 large bay leaves
- 7 cloves garlic peeled
- 7 whole red hot peppers
- Ball Pickling Crisp optional
- cheesecloth
Instructions
Prep the canning jars
- Wash and prepare jars and lids following safe canning practices.
- Boil the jars in hot water and keep hot.
Prep the cucumbers & jars
- Rinse the cucumbers and peppers in cold water. Drain.
- Trim each end off the cucumbers.
- Slice the cucumbers into sandwich slices or rounds using a mandolin. Or cut cucumbers into quarters if you'd like.
- Tie the Ball Pickling Spices into a square of cheesecloth.
- Secure the spice bag with a rubber band.
- Combine the sugar, salt, vinegar, and water in a saucepan.
- Add spice bag and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
- Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove spice bag.
- Working with 2 hot jars at a time place ½ teaspoon mustard seed, one head of dill, 1 bay leaf, 1 clove of garlic, ,and one pepper in the bottom of each jar.
- Pack the cucumber slices, rounds or wedges into the jar being sure to leave ½-inch head space (trim pickle slices or wedges if needed).
- To each jar add ⅛ teaspoon of Pickle Fresh if using.
- Carefully ladle the hot pickling liquid into the jar leaving ½-inch head space.
- Remove air bubbles.
- Add enough pickling liquid to bring the head space back to ½ if needed.
- Wipe rims and place a flat lid and a band on the jar and tighten just to finger tight.
- Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.
Notes
- Nutritional values are per pint jar.
Nutrition
For more canning recipes check out my canning recipes page.
Katy
I am hoping to use this recipe except I don't know what 1/2 ball salt actually amounts to. Is it half the bag or half a cup? Thank you in advance.
Arlene Mobley
Katy
So sorry! It is 1/2 cup Ball pickling salt.
Kathy
How long do they need to stay sealed for before they are ready to eat?
Bronson marcotte
Can I use just kosher salt 1/2 a cup or does it have to be the ball salt
And also can I use apple cider vinegar 5% or does it have to be regular vinegar 5%
Arlene Mobley
Bronson
You need to use pickling salt. It doesn't matter what brand. You can use apple cider vinegar as long as it is 5% but apple cider vinegar is going to make the pickles taste a bit weird and have that apple cider flavor. White vinegar is the only vinegar I have ever used for homemade pickles.