Yield: 5 800 ml Mason jars

Time: 2 hours

My garden yielded more cucumbers than I’ve known what to do with! Although I’ve been intimidated by pickling, I decided to give it a try and guess what? It’s not so hard and you really don’t need any special equipment.  You can also play with the seasoning and ingredients. Have fun!

Ingredients:

• 5 800 ml mason jars
• Peppercorns, approximately 5 tablespoons
• Garlic, 5-7 cloves, fresh and sliced
• Cherry Peppers, ½ cherry pepper per jar, roughly chopped
• Dill, fresh and roughly chopped
• Cucumbers, sliced into wedges
• 5 cups water
• 3 cups white vinegar
• ½ cup fine salt (not iodized –  you want pure salt)
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions: 

1. Make your brine in a large pot. Combine water, vinegar, salt and sugar and bring to a boil.
2. While waiting for the brine to boil, prepare your mason jars with your pickling items
3. Fill each mason jar with even amounts of peppercorns, garlic, cherry peppers, dill and wedged cucumbers.
4. Carefully pour the boiling brine into each jar (I used a ladle and a funnel); and leave ½” of head space on top of each jar.
5. Put the lids and rings on the mason jar and tighten with just your finger tips (to avoid over tightening)
6. Fill a very tall pot with water and bring to a boil.  You do not want the jars to sit on the bottom of the pot close to the head source. You can use a wire rack or even a dish towel at the bottom of the pot to keep it off the direct head.
7. Boil each jar for 16-20 minutes in order to seal the jars.  Jars should be covered by about ½” of water.
8. Remove the jars after 16-20 minutes and allow them to rest on the counter for 24 hours while they cool and fully seal.
9. Store in the refrigerator and eat when ready!