Dill Pickles

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2007

Show: Good EatsEpisode: Dill-icious

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (13)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(13)

Prep Time:
15 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
3 pounds pickles

Times:

Prep: 15 min
Inactive Prep: 240 hr 0 min
Cook: --
Total:: 240 hr 15 min

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Ingredients

5 1/2 ounces pickling salt, approximately 1/2 cup
1 gallon filtered water
3 pounds pickling cucumbers, 4 to 6-inches long
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon dill seed
1 large bunch dill

Directions

Combine the salt and water in a pitcher and stir until the salt has dissolved.

Rinse the cucumbers thoroughly and snip off the blossom end stem. Set aside.

Place the peppercorns, pepper flakes, garlic, dill seed and fresh dill into a 1-gallon crock. Add the cucumbers to the crock on top of the aromatics. Pour the brine mixture over the cucumbers in order to completely cover. Pour the remaining water into a 1-gallon ziptop plastic bag and seal. Place the bag on top of the pickles making sure that all of them are completely submerged in the brine. Set in a cool, dry place.

Check the crock after 3 days. Fermentation has begun if you see bubbles rising to the top of the crock. After this, check the crock daily and skim off any scum that forms. If scum forms on the plastic bag, rinse it off and return to the top of the crock.

The fermentation is complete when the pickles taste sour and the bubbles have stopped rising; this should take approximately 6 to 7 days. Once this happens, cover the crock loosely and place in the refrigerator for 3 days, skimming daily or as needed. Store for up to 2 months in the refrigerator, skimming as needed. If the pickles should become soft or begin to take on an off odor, this is a sign of spoilage and they should be discarded.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Dill Pickles
Carlton Hempstead, TX 10-19-2009
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Failed twice...
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I am trying this recipe now with my biology students to show them how lactic acid fermentation works. However, I was... thinking about your results and have concluded that your cucumbers must have had some issues. Even good-looking cukes can go bad and they can do so very quickly! They must be really firm all over with no softer areas. Those soft spots indicate rot beginning inside them. As for the flower end, I saw where a tad bit of discoloration can enter the fruit. As the blossom forms and the ovary closes around the end where the pollen grains entered into the female flower's ovary, I can see how it would be inevitable for pathogens to get into that end. Follow Alton's advice and cut it out! I bet a pre-existing fungus is the source of the problem if all other conditions were met. Try again! Keep on trying !(Science teacher, but professional horticulturist.)Read more
recipe Dill Pickles
Chuck Pahrump, NV 09-15-2009
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Old time pickled peppers and cucumbers
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

Many, Many Years ago (Circa late 30s early 40s) my Mother pickled peppers, cucumbers and other veggies in a crock which held... approx 5 to 10 gallons of pickling fluid. The crock was kept under the Kitchen sink - it was an open arae as the sink was not in a cabinet. The crock stayed there year round. There was a wooden cover with a handle that fit into the crock. I think my Dad made the cover. All we had to do was lift the cover, stick our hand into the brine and pull out what ever we wanted to eat when ever we had the urge. I have been searching for a recipie that would allow me to set up the same system in my home. Your recipe seems to fill the bill with a few exceptions. You say store in the refrigerator for up to two months. Mother did not store in a refrigerator - all we had was an ice box at the time - and as I said that crock was basically full year round with delicious pickled peppers and cucumbers. Can you advise me on this as to any possible changes to make to your recipe to prolong the storage period and/or not refrigerate the product (A five gallon crock won't fit to well in a refrigerator)?Read more
recipe Dill Pickles
Michael Shreveport, LA 09-10-2009
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Few Questions
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

This is my first time with this recipe and I was curious about whether I'm doing it correctly or not. I'm using glass... crocks because I couldn't find anything else. YES or NO? I have the lids on the jars but they aren't secured down. They just sit on top YES or NO? The fermentation has taken longer than 3 days to actually begin. The items have CO2 bubbles on it but nothing's rising. The water's cloudy however. I'm a Science teacher doing this with my students and I just want to make sure I'm doing this correctly. Any additional advice would be greatly appreciated.Read more
recipe Dill Pickles
Rebecca Shoreview, MN 09-09-2009
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Loved these last year, so am making them again today!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Dan from Brooklyn, I'm wondering if you have a lot of mold in your environment; that could very well cause them to "implode."... You can order a test for household mold. I made these last year, kept them near an open window, and they turned out great! Those that made it past four or five months in my fridge started to get a little soggy, but I wasn't supposed to keep them around that long anyway. I added garlic and hot banana peppers to mine, too, to "Polarize" them (made them like my mom's Polish dills, only better, but don't tell my mom about that).Read more
recipe Dill Pickles
ben davis, CA 06-23-2009
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have problems with this one?
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

the thing you MUST do is check the level of the brine .. You may have to top it off a couple times a day depending on how the... fermentation goes.. Also it is VERY important to use fresh firm cukes.. I used air dried red sea salt on my last batch and they began bubbling after 24 hours . .mmmm mmm goood!Read more
recipe Dill Pickles
Dan Brooklyn, NY 05-18-2009
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Failed... twice. What am I doing wrong?
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

I followed the instructions exactly. My ingredients were good (specific pickling salt, good cukes from whole foods, and the... spices were good and fresh). The first time I did the recipe this is what happened: - fermentation evidently started after 2-3 days; I saw bubbles rising from the sides of the crock. - after a couple more days, I checked on the cucumbers and some had sort-of imploded. Some were soft to the touch and basically were disintegrating from the inside. - After the allotted time period (and after discarding any that got soft) I tasted the remaining ones that were still firm and, while tasting good, there was a slight funkiness. I got rid of them too. The second time, I thought I would modify my method a bit: - I made sure to cut off the blossom ends (well, is this the stem end or not? I cut off the stem end, even though I see stems on professional pickles) - Instead of Brita'd tap water (in Brooklyn, NY), I used bottled spring water. - Same results as the first batch. If anything it was slightly worse. So, what did I do wrong? I can't think of anything that I did differently than the recipe. What does the softening and "imploding" of the cucumbers indicate? Thanks, DanRead more