Homemade Sweet Dill Pickles - Canned

I have been canning & pickling pickles like crazy this summer! I'm fortunate because at my job people bring in tons of extra produce from their gardens to share so I've been snagging lots of cucumbers of the pickling kind. I tried a couple of my own versions of dill pickles, homemade recipes, and so far one turned out great although more garlicky tasting than dill, the other I overdid it on adding fennel seed and they weren't worth eating in my opinion! I've been swapping pickles with friends and just had a friend trade me for her amazing Sweet Dills. I'm not a big sweet pickle fan but these are dill enough with just a hint of sweetness that makes me want more and more!

Here is the recipe for her sweet dill pickles: 1 quart apple cider vinegar, 6 cups sugar, 1 quart water, 4 tablespoons pickling salt, 1-2 sprigs of dill and 2 cloves of garlic per jar. Heat vinegar mixture, pour over pickles in jar. Fit with lids and steam for 5 minutes (She uses a pressure canner, I do water bath so I will water bath process them on boiling for about 15 minutes). Makes 12-14 pints or 4-6 quarts.

Homemade Pickles - Refrigerator Pickles - Canned Pickles

This is one of my favorite parts of the summer, making homemade pickles! Last year I made my first batch after I was given a huge box full of baby cucumbers. I made about 13 jars of refrigerator pickles and ended up giving away most of them since they were refrigerator pickles, good for only 3 months. This year I'm hoping for more of the baby cucumbers from the same friend but while I'm waiting, I got four medium sized cucumbers (about 1/3 of the size of the cucumbers sold in supermarkers) so I'll make two canned jars - pint size - and one refrigerator pickles.

I always get a packet of seasoning and this time it recommended cutting the ends off the pickles, which I did, and letting the cucumbers soak in ice water for four hours. I only soaked them for about two hours. Then I mixed together the seasoning packet, six cups of water, and 2 1/2 cups of vinegar that I brought to a boil. I brought my water bath canner to a boil at the same time. I packed the cucumbers (without the ice water) into the jars, then poured the boiling seasoning juice around them. I immediately water bath canned the two jars for 15 minutes. The other jar I let cool, then capped and put in the fridge. I find I actually prefer the taste of the refrigerator style to the canned but obviously the canned will last a lot longer.

Follow up: I just tried these pickles today - excellent! The putting them in ice water first DEFINITELY makes them crispier! Too good.. I could eat the whole jar. I think I will definitely follow this style again!