Vibrant Foods Dill Pickles

You don’t need to get yourself into a pickle. Canning your cukes is easy when you know how! 

First, get out to your farmers market and get yourself some beautiful baby cukes. Kirby or Persian cucumbers are the best variety to choose as they hold up their crunch factor without becoming soft and mushy. No one wants a soft or mushy pickle. So why pickle you ask? Well first, you will know exactly what is going into your pickles, there will be no weird additives or unlabelled shenanigans in your final product.

Second, fermentation. This gives your gut the healthy bacteria that it needs to flourish and keep your immune system healthy.

Third, it is easy! You can can your pickles using a hot water bath method, or you can just jar them and put them in the fridge. Canning will allow you to store them for about a year. Did you know that you can also pickle other veg? Okra and green beans are always favourites, but garlic scapes and carrots work well too. Get creative and try pickling other veg from your garden. What ever veg you choose should be ripe and firm to the touch. Grab some dill, some garlic, vinegar and cukes and let’s get into a pickle!

Next is the brine, a basic brine will be made of equal parts vinegar and water mixed with salt. It then gets poured over the cucumbers and turns your veg into pickley goodness! You can of course eat them straight away, but the longer you leave them soaking in the brine, the better the flavour! Keeping the ratios the same you will be able to make more or less brine depending on the amount of veg you would like to ferment. You can also play around with different spices and vinegars. Experiment with cider or homemade vinegars, mustard seed, red pepper flakes.. .the possibilities are endless!

Now, to process or not to process… If you want to keep your pickles for up to a year, you will need to process them. If you just want to reach into the fridge and grab some on the go you will not. You can make the recipe below and decide which you will want to do, process or not. If you want to keep them for up to a year, then you will need to hot water bathe them for about 5 minutes. The only downside is that the hot water will cook the pickles a little bit and sometimes make your pickles a bit soft. If you would like them to stay crunchy, just skip the hot water bath and them in the fridge. They will keep for several weeks in the fridge.

So there you have it, easy breezy pickle making. What kinds of veg will you try to get into a pickle?

---

RECIPE

• Name: VIBRANT FOODS Dill Pickles 

• Servings: 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 pounds Kirby or Persian cucumbers

• 6 cloves garlic peeled and smashed

• 2 tablespoons dill seed

• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional

• 1 cup cider vinegar or white vinegar

• 1 cup water

• 1 1/2 tablespoons pickling salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Get your jars ready: If you are going to can your pickles you will need to boil and sterilize the jars and their lids. If you are planning to make refrigerator pickles, washing the jars and lids is fine.

2. Prepare the cukes: Wash and dry the cucumbers. Be sure to trim away the blossom end of the cucumber, as it contains enzymes that can lead to limp pickles. You can leave the cucumbers whole, or cut them into spears, or whichever shape you like.

3. Spice up your veg: Divide the spices of your choice between the jars

4. Pack the cucumbers: Pack the cucumbers into the jars. Leaving about 1/2 inch below the top of the jar. Pack them in as tightly.

5. Pickling brine: Combine the vinegar, water, salt and other spices in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil. Pour the brine over the cucumbers. Fill each jar to within 1/4-inch of the top.

6. Remove the air bubbles: Gently tap your jars against the counter a few times to remove all the air bubbles. Top off with more brine if needed.

7. Tighten the lids: Place the lids over the jars and screw on the rings until tight.

8. If Processing: For longer shelf life your pickles will need a hot water bath. Fill your canner with enough water to cover the jars by a full inch. Boil the water, place jars into boiling water, wait for water to return to a boil and keep them in there for 10 minutes. Once they are finished, use tongs and carefully take jars out and let them cool.

9. Cool and refrigerate: Let the jars cool to room temperature. If you processed the jars, they can be stored on the shelf. If unprocessed, store the pickles in the fridge. The pickles will improve with flavor as they age — try to wait at least 48 hours before cracking them open.

10. Storing canned pickles: Canned pickles will keep for at least a year on the shelf and for several weeks in the refrigerator once opened; refrigerator pickles will keep for several weeks.