Ingredients
Method
- Sterilize the jars: first wash them in hot, soapy water, then rinse them and put them in a pan big enough to cover the jars with water. Bring the water to a boil, and boil them for 20 minutes. Leave the jars in the hot water until you're ready to use them.
- Bring a small pot of water to boil. Peel your garlic cloves and plunge them into the boiling water for one minute, then remove. The clove is now safe to use.
- Wash your cucumbers really well. Cut the ends off, especially the end where the stem was. (If you leave the stem on, the pickles can end up mushy.)
- In the bottom of each sterilized jar, place the salt, the grape or horseradish leaf, 1 to 2 dill heads, and the garlic clove.
- Once these items are in the jar, pack your cucumbers in. Reserve space in the top for more dill heads.
- Fill with cold, filtered water.
- Place another dill head in the top of the jar. Wipe the lip of the jar off with a clean cloth and put the lid and band on the jar. Tighten.
- Gently turn the jar up and down until the salt is dissolved.
- Store in a cool place.
- The pickles will be ready in about 2 or 3 months.
Nutrition
Notes
Sterilizing the jars is important because you aren't going to be applying heat to the process, so this is your chance to kill any bacteria on the surface of the jar.
Blanching the garlic protects against a bacteria common in the onion family, which can cause spoilage.
For each jar, you'll need as many cucumbers as will fit in the jar. That's usually about 5 of them.
You may note some fermentation for a few days, which is natural for this method of pickling. If a jar runs over, wait until the fermentation is over, wipe the lip off with a clean cloth, and reseal.