Pickling Brine For Cucs And Beans - dill

Method

• Wash cuc's/beans throughly.
• If pickling cucumbers prick each 2-3 times each.
• Sterilize quart jars and lids- keep in hot water till ready to use.
• In a large pot combine water, vinegar, salt, alum and sugar to warm ("warm" is a vague term I know- I usually wait till the salt has dissolved or just before boiling point is reached).
• In each sterilized quart jar place 2-3 heads dill, 2-3 cloves garlic, 1-1.5 peppers (2-3 if you want a spicier pickle) then pack in cucumbers or beans (with beans I like to pack in half yellow wax beans, half green- it's very pretty).
• Pour brine over veggies then let cool to room temperature.
• Pour brine back into kettle and bring to a boil.
• Once boiling then pour brine back over veggies, within .25" of top of jar.
• Tightly screw HOT lids and rings on jars.
• Place jars upside down for 5 minutes then flip back up, cover with a tea towel and leave jars to seal until next day.
• Pickles/dilly beans are ready to eat in 6 weeks.
• And every other week or so I flip the jars upside down so the brine distributes the garlic and dill flavor evenly.
• Also the longer you can wait to eat the pickle the better it is.
• This method creates a WONDERFUL, crunchy pickle, however the seal on the jar is fairly soft.
• I store them with the bands on.
• *Note: I don't give specific amounts of beans/cuc's as size can vary the amount per quart (though I try to harvest when the beans are no larger then a #2 pencil and the cucumbers are 2" long and about .5" in diameter). Generally I keep cuc's and beans in large bowls of ice water in the frig and every few days the garden provides me with enough produce that I can put up 3-5 quarts of pickles. This brine can be made up and stored in the frig and brought out and heated/used as you need it.