The Best Classic Kosher Dill Pickle Recipe
The recipe for the Best Classic Kosher Dill Pickle is the one that delivers pickles that are genuinely the best classic dill pickle you can recall from your childhood. This simple recipe will make tasty, real Classic Dill Pickles at home.
I remember as a child dipping my fingers into a 10 gallon stoneware crown crock to get my little fingers on the very best dill pickle from my grandmother's antique crock (what I wouldn't give to have that crock today). I would barely finish that dill pickle before my fingers were once again diving for another and yet another until I would be shooed away.
I wanted to taste that goodness again so I decided to make some Homemade Classic Dill Pickles with my kiddos. Dill pickles are so easy to make as long as you have an overabundance of cucumbers from your garden, which we always do. I do not have a lovely antique pickling crock to place the pickles in to ferment, so I simply use Mason jars and can the pickles with the good old fashioned boil-in-a-large-pot-method.
(I doubled the below recipe to make 8 jars)
The Ultimate Classic Kosher Dill Pickle
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup kosher salt OR real salt
1 tsp. sugar (or add a bit more if you don't like your pickles too terribly sour)
1 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns
1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
1 Tbsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
3 cups white vinegar (no need to get fancy here, just plain old white vinegar will do!)
3 cups water
10-12 cucumbers
8-10 garlic cloves, smashed
10 dill sprigs (fresh)
This recipe can be cut in half or even doubled. The main point is to have equal parts vinegar and water. You could use the spices indicated or a pickling blend that is usually available at any grocer. Additionally, if you do not have any jars around your home, they are super easy to locate these days. You really could use old jars that you have recycled too!
PREPARATION
Combine the water, salt, sugar, peppercorns, coriander, and red pepper flakes over high heat in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Add the vinegar and stir to combine.
Scrub cucumbers to remove any dirt. Remove any tails or pieces of stem and cut in half or quarters or really any way you like. {I did quarters and rounds slices and thin slices}
Be sure to sterilize your jars and prepare them for canning.
Place 3-4 sprigs of dill in each jar, add a couple cloves of smashed garlic and stuff your cut cucumbers in tightly. Make sure your jar is full.
Pour the hot brine into the jars, making sure to evenly distribute spices. Close all the jars with the lids snug on top of the jars.
Place the filled jars in boiling water for 15 minutes and wait to here the lovely pop.
Now, if you prefer to simply add the hot brine to the jars and place the jars in the refrigerator INSTEAD of boiling (and canning the jar), that works as well. Just keep in mid, that jars of pickles are simply now REFRIGERATE PICKLES . . . and will need to remain in the fridge --and can remain in the fridge for a few months (if they last that long).
This past summer, we made a mix of refrigerate pickles and canned pickles - we also made a mix of not too spicy and extra spicy!! My goodness - the extra spicy were SOOO good!! I simply added a few extra cloves of garlic into each jar - let me tell you - they were super sharp - the best tasting spicy and soo soo crunchy!! We loved them!! They literally lasted like two days in my fridge! Everyone kept going to the fridge for two days straight and were crunch crunch crunching away on the spicy pickles!!
I had to go to the farmer’s market and buy more cucs and more dill to make more of the Best Classic Kosher Dill Pickles ever!!
I like canning as I can store the jars in the cupboard for longer periods and prepare larger batches. But, if you have a handful of pickles from your garden, simply boil up the brine and pour over the sliced pickles and pop the jar in your refrigerator. I would leave them at least 24 hours before dipping your fingers into the jar!
The great thing with this brine is you can utilize it for any of your garden vegetables! I love to use this brine on cauliflower - oh my stars! SO GOOD! This is perfect for pickling slices of carrots as well. You can brine peppers, jalpenos and of course cucumbers and pickles!