Home | Recipes | Pickles

Dad’s Pickles

Makes 5 lbs of Pickles

Ingredients:

5 lbs	Pickles
5 quarts	Water
½ cup*	Salt
¼ cup	Vinegar
3 heads	Fresh dill (or equivalent)
3 cloves	garlic
5 lbs	Fresh pickles

Directions:

1. Find a pot that will hold the 5 pounds of pickles and a plate that fits inside the pot tight enough to hold the pickles under.
2. Wash (rinse) the pickles.
3. With the pickles in the pot fill with cold water so the pickles can be submerged 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. (About 5 quarts of water.) Remove the pickles.
4. Add salt and bring the pot of water to a boil.
5. When boiling remove from heat and add vinegar, about 3 cloves of garlic cut in big chunks, and dill. When fresh dill is available I use 2 or 3 heads of dill.
6. Add pickles (carefully, dumping them in can splash boiling hot liquid).
7. Add plate to hold pickles under.
8. Cover pot.

Pickles are ready for tasting by the time the pot is cool. When they taste good (4 to 24 hours) remove pickles and refrigerate. I've kept them refrigerated for a week, don't know about longer because they haven't lasted that long.

*Salt quantity is a variable depending on the pickles.

This works great for pickles 1 inch in diameter or less. Smaller pickles are done quicker. When pickles are a lot bigger (2 inches in diameter) it isn't salty enough. When I've tried cutting pickles in quarters lengthwise, the cut pickles come out too salty I expect it would work with 1/4 cup of salt but haven't tested it yet.