Go Back Email Link
+ servings
Jar of Dill Pickles.
Print Recipe
5 from 2 votes

Easy Dill Pickles

These easy no-canning, no special equipment required dill pickles make a big, crunchy batch!
Prep Time1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Condiments
Cuisine: American
Servings: 9 liter jars
Calories: 48kcal

Ingredients

  • 8-10 lbs fresh cucumbers about 4" long
  • 4 cups white vinegar 5% solution
  • 8 cups boiling water
  • ½ cup coarse pickling salt
  • 6 cloves garlic (optional)
  • 12 sprigs fresh dill

Instructions

  • Fill your sink with warm water and dump cucumbers into the water. Scrub each cucumber with a bristle brush and toss into ice water either in the other sink or in a separate clean container large enough to hold all the cucumbers.
  • While the cucumbers sit in the ice bath, fill bottom of roasting pan with 3" of water. Straddle the roaster over front and back burners of your stove top and bring water to a good simmer. Invert as many jars as it will hold. I can put about 6 liter jars in at a time. Let the jars simmer for 15 minutes. The jars will sometimes pull the water up inside them. You may need to lift the jars with tongs to release the water back into the pan.
  • Mix the vinegar, salt and water in a dutch oven and bring to a boil on the stove. Turn down so it is just simmering.
  • While the jars and vinegar are simmering, remove cucumbers from ice water and dry them. I line them up on a clean tea towel and start to make rows of cucumbers of similar size. (This will make it easier when you are filling the jars to find large cucumbers for the bottom and smaller for the top.) Take a paper towel or other tea towel to dry the tops of each layer of cucumbers.
  • Trim the dill sprigs so you have the head and no stem and peel your garlic cloves if using.
  • Add your snap lids and rings to the simmering sterilization bath. They should simmer 3-5 minutes. (Not too long or you can damage the rubber seal in the snap lid)
  • With tongs, remove a jar from the bath and sit it on a clean tea towel beside your ingredients. Place a large sprig of dill and a clove of garlic in the jar.
  • I tilt the jar to its side and lay cucumbers in to fill the bottom layer. (They look like they are standing on one end but tilting the jar on its side keeps them from falling all over the place.) Continue to fill the jar with smaller pickles or by halving the large pickles. Top with a small sprig of dill leaving about ½ - 1 " of clearance to the top of the jar rim.
  • Take your jar back close to the simmering vinegar solution. ( I set mine on another tea towel to catch any drips.) Dip a glass measuring cup into the vinegar mixture and pour the hot vinegar over the pickles in the jar. You will need leave ½ - 1" of head space at the top of the jar.
  • Remove the snap lid and ring from the water bath with tongs. Position the snap lid on the jar rim. Wipe the top of the lid dry and make sure it lines up properly with the rim. Wipe the metal ring dry and screw onto the jar finger tight.
  • Repeat until cucumbers are all jarred. Note that the amount of vinegar mixture you will need to fill the jar will vary depending on how tightly packed your cucumbers are. You may have some left over or you may have to make up a small additional amount.
  • Make sure the outside of the jar is dry and clean. Let them stand for a few hours on a tea towel (not in a draft). You will hear the odd pop now and again as the lids seal during the cooling process.
  • Store in a dark, cool place. I usually leave mine 6-8 weeks before I use them.
  • Enjoy!

Notes

Nutrition is approximate and based on pickles in 1 liter jar.

Nutrition

Calories: 48kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 8mg | Potassium: 550mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 311IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 1mg