Tuesday, July 19, 2011

RECIPE: Refrigerator Dill Pickles

We love Mt. Olive Kosher dill pickles.  In fact, when they go on sale at the store, I usually stock up at least 4 jars each time.  We can go through some pickles!  Recently we went over to my cousin Brenda's house and we finagled with a recipe until it resembled Mt. Olive pickle juice.  They are so good!!!  Technically these are refrigerator pickles.  Meaning they are not processed in a boiling water bath, but kept in the fridge. We save the pickle jars and spaghetti jars so we could put the pickled cucumbers in them.  This is the first time I've done this.  My cousin is a pro at preserving things.  She does everything from tomatoes to salsa and okra to frozen creamed corn. 

Dill Pickles
5-1/2 cups water
3 cups white distilled vinegar
1/4 tsp ground tumeric
5 Tbsp pickling salt (or non-iodized salt)
black peppercorn
mustard seeds
red pepper flakes
fresh dill heads
whole garlic cloves
cucumbers, sliced, speared, whole (make sure to remove the blossom end of the cucumbers)

Clean and dry your jars and lids.  Set aside.

In stainless steel pot, bring water, vinegar, salt and turmeric to a boil.  Then cool slightly. 

Clean and prepare the cucumbers.  Slicing them into chips, cutting them into spears or keeping them whole.  Remember to cut off the blossom end of the cucumbers.  

Apparently there is a wicked little enzyme that will make your pickles mushy.  And we don't want mushy pickles!

Place one garlic clove, 2 peppercorns, a tiny pinch of red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1 dill head into the bottom of each jar.  

Fit cucumbers into the jars.  

We put spears in the bottom and topped with chips.  Add another dill head to the top.  

Pour the vinegar mixture over the cucumbers allowing 1/2" headspace. 

Allow to come to room temperature and put straight into the fridge.  Allow to pickle for at least 4 weeks and then enjoy to your heart's content.  

We didn't wait 4 weeks.  We didn't even wait 3 weeks.  We waited 4 days.  I know!  But we were way too curious to see how they tasted.  They are amazing!!!  The vinegar solution hadn't permeated the entire cucumber, but it still tasted pretty amazing!  

Now you can make them yourself.  Plant yourself a little cucumber patch and you'll have cucumbers for the year.  

YUM!

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20 comments:

Debbi Does Dinner Healthy said...

I so want to do this! So you don't have to actually CAN them or anything? You can just put them in regular jars? I'm going to start saving pickle jars, we go through a lot here too! Thanks!

Candi said...

That's it! It's so stinkin' easy!!! I have a ton of glass spaghetti jars too. As long as it's glass and with a lid, you'll be good.

April L said...

Can't wait to try these! I had mushy pickles last year and didn't know why. Makes sense! Where do you buy fresh dill heads since I didn't grow any?

Diana said...

Do you know how long these will last in the fridge? I've made refrigerator pickles before, but didn't want to make a lot since I was afraid they might go bad. Your recipe sounds delicious!

Christina said...

Oooh, I am definitely making these when my cucumbers grow in. I love dill pickles!

Melinda said...

Looks like I should have planted some dill this year! This look really yummy!

Unknown said...

Oooooo, I love me some pickles and they are so full of salt so this way I can monitor all of that! I defintely will need to try this! Thanks:-)

Barb @ A Life in Balance said...

I just made dill pickles this weekend, though I canned mine.

I didn't know about cutting off the blossom end, though mine usually turn out fine.

I love pickle recipes with turmeric - one of my favorites is bread and butter.

carolinaheartstrings said...

Those look fantastic. Great job. I live in Mt. Olive country. North Carolina. We have a wonderful grilled fruit recipe. Come over and visit us.

Candi said...

@April L - my cousin said she found freeze-dried dill at her local small town grocery store. She didn't have dill heads, but hers turned out good last year. I grew the dill from seeds for the sole purpose of trying this recipe. I can't believe how much I have! It's crazy! This is only from 1 square foot of my little herb garden.

@Diana - this is my first time making refrigerator pickles. But Jami at An Oregon Cottage has a recipe on her blog and says they can last up to 18 months in the fridge. I don't think mine will even last 2 months! We've already ate 2 jars and technically they have 2 more weeks to be completely pickled. :) I'd make as many as your family will eat within a year. And make sure you have room in the fridge. My brother lives alone and has offered me part of his fridge to store the jars since he doesn't buy a lot of food.

Heather said...

My grandma and my Mom both made dill pickles like this when I was younger and I loved it! You've inspired me to continue the tradition. :0)

Unknown said...

I love refrigerated pickles and keep some I made in there at all times. Your recipe looks good to.

Beth said...

Sounds fun and easy too!

Rose @ Walnut Acre said...

These look awesome and we have plenty of cucumbers right now. Dill pickles are my favorite pickles.

Unknown said...

How awesome! I would love for you to share a link to this on my Wednesday meme!

http://www.crystalandcomp.com/2011/07/the-mommy-club-share-your-resources-and-solutions/

Homesteading Chic said...

Sounds really good! I've never made refrigerator pickles before, but my mother has and I love them. I'll have to give this a try if I ever get any cucumber to grow. :) Thanks for the recipe.

~Lynn

Jami @ An Oregon Cottage said...

Oh, you know I love the refrigerator pickles- I'll have to try adding some tumeric to them this year. I'm assuming that is what makes them "Mt. Olive pickles?" (which I've never seen, btw- guess I'm missing out!) Thanks for this!

April @ The 21st Century Housewife said...

Oh I love pickles, but I never have made them myself. Your recipe sounds really delicious, and very do-able, so I hope to try them soon! Thank you for sharing it with Let's Do Brunch :)

phasejumper said...

Thank you so much for this recipe! I made them with my nine year-old this week-we can't wait until we can taste them! This will be a great summer tradition for us!

Melody said...

I just made these almost two weeks ago and I just had to try one. OMGosh they taste almost like the Mount Olive pickles. I will most defiantly use this again.

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