Recipe for pickles.

We modified the Strub’s Family Homestyle Brine Recipe slightly by boiling the brine and also adding peppercorns and mustard seeds to it.  Our pickling vinegar is 7% compared to the 6% called for.  Also, we were more generous with the dill because we like our dill pickles more dilly. Ours made three 1L jars, or 6 500 mL jars.  The smaller jars are better because the pickles are short; if you use the larger jars you have to fill up that extra space on top with super short pickles.  Long and short in one jar – ain’t so pretty.

Ingredients:

Kosher, sea or pickling salt (don’t use iodized salt or it’ll cloud your brine), Ontario garlic, fresh dill, pickling vinegar (7^%), small basket of fresh Ontario pickling cucumbers.

Brine:

Add 120ml of salt and 500ml of pickling vinegar to two litres of water.  Bring to a boil until the salt dissolves.

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Wash cukes well, cut ends off and cut lengthwise, packing tightly in 500ml jars

Peel and slice six to eight cloves of garlic, adding to jars

Stuff a generous wad of fresh dill into each (about 3 tablespoons, but who really knows?)

Add a teaspoon of peppercorns and mustard seed to each

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Pour brine into the jars to within a centimeter of the rim.  Place new caps on the jars and put them into a pot of tap water.  Make sure the lids are on firmly and that the water covers them completely (do not stack the jars).  Bring to a boil, which may take about 20 minutes to half an hour.  Continue the rolling boil for another five to ten minutes.

Remove the pot from the stove (very carefully) and put it into the sink.  Leave the hot water in and run a trickle of cold tap water into the pot until the water is cool enough to remove the jars.  Don’t dump cold water on at this time or else the jars may break – make it gradual!  When you’re able to hold the jars against your face, they’re ready to remove from the water.

Sit back, listen to them pop and then store in a cool dry place.  You can eat the pickles tomorrow.

Thank you Strubs for the use of your recipe