Hamburger Dill Chips

I realized I had not posted this pickle recipe with the others. These are my version of a hamburger dill chip. I make about a dozen jars of these every year and they last until the next year for my family. We enjoy them on sandwiches and burgers mostly. My husband likes them sliced on an angle to make a bigger pickle for sandwiches because he doesn't like those little slices that fall out of your burger or sandwich. 

My cucumber patch of Straight Eight cucumbers has been productive this year. I have made all the pickles I want for the year and am now enjoying them fresh and even selling a few. I have a second small patch that is younger that should keep us in fresh cucumbers until frost.

Couple things when making pickles.

1. Pick your cucumbers young before the large seeds develop
2. Use the freshest cucumbers you can get. Old cukes make soft pickles.

Ingredients

• 7 wide mouth jars with lids and rings
• fresh dill heads or dried dill seed
• cucumbers washed and sliced
• 7 cloves of garlic peeled
• 8 1/2 cups distilled water
• 2 1/4 cups white vinegar
• 1/2 cup pickling salt

Fill hot water canner 1/2 full with water and place clean jars in canner and place on stove to heat to boiling. Allow jars to boil to sterilize.

Warm lids and rings in a small saucepan of water.

Wash cucumbers WELL. I wash mine in a little water with about 1/4 cup of vinegar and a drop of Dawn. Rinse and dry cucumbers then remove both ends of cucumbers.

Now slice your cucumbers however your family prefers their pickles. Spears, small slices or oblong slices. Mine prefer large oblong slices for sandwiches. Having a mandolin slicer allows me to hold my cucumbers at an angle when slicing to get larger slices.   

Once your pickles are sliced it's time to make your brine. 

Place water, vinegar and salt in large pot and bring to boil. 

Remove jar from hot canner and add 1 clove garlic, I head dill or 1 tablespoon dill seed to hot jar. 

Pack pickles tightly in hot jar being careful because the jar is hot. DO NOT drop anything cold in jar as it will shatter. Cucumber slices, dill and garlic should all be room temperature. Leave 1/2 inch headspace.

At this point I have a hand towel folded on the counter. Pour hot brine over pickles to cover, leave 1/2 inch headspace. Now that  my jar is full I gently pick the hot jar up with another towel or potholder and gently take the hot jar and lift it a time or two then let it come in contact with the towel on the counter. Kind of like gently striking it. This bounces the bubbles out because your pickles should be packed TIGHT, too tight to use a bubble tool! Be Careful It is HOT!! 

Now that the bubbles are out wipe the jar rim off with a clean cloth.

Now I place hot lid and ring on jar and finger tighten only.

Place that jar back in the canner of boiling water making sure at this point that the fire is turned off although the water is still boiling hot. Pack next jar and do the same thing. I do as many jars as I have brine for. If your pickles are packed really tight this should do 6 or 7 quarts.  

That boiling water in that canner should have really heated your jars up. Then I take them out and put them on a cutting board covered with a dish cloth. I then cover them with a thick bath towel and let them set overnight. No peeking. The next morning all my jars are sealed. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated!

*****Now if you are uncomfortable with NOT water bathing your pickles they can****** also be water bathed for 15 minutes as recommended.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter