Apartment Therapy The Kitchn | DIY Tip: How To Make Dill Pickles

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DIY Tip: How To Make Dill Pickles

Photo: pickling cucumbers and fresh dill awaiting the vinegar mixture.

We try to avoid using processed foods as much as possible and make our own pantry items when we can.

We've been seeing a lot of fresh herbs at the farmer's markets, and at the Crocker Galleria farmer's market, we saw a farmer with pickling cucumbers, so we snatched them up along with fresh dill and made homemade dill pickles.

The finished pickles.

The recipe we use is taken from The Vegetarian Epicure, Book Two by Anna Thomas. It is easy to make and produces a wonderfully crisp, clean-tasting pickle that goes great in our lunchboxes.

Ah, pickles. There's nothing like a cold, crunchy dill pickle accompanying a sandwich or garnishing a pickletini.

(Images: Kathryn Hill)

Comments (10)

do you process the jars to seal them?

posted by snickitysnack on 2008-04-09 16:08:56
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a pickletini? recipe, please!

posted by kat98 on 2008-04-09 16:26:26
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I have no problems with buying Rick's Picks pickled goods. Or the ones from Guss' Pickles in NYC. Vlasic, on the other hand...I'll pass.

raspberry eggplant

posted by raspberry eggplant on 2008-04-09 16:42:02
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Pickled okra--yes please.

posted by art on 2008-04-09 16:43:42
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Any suggested recipes for a quick pickle that's NOT dill? I look forward to showing my boyfriend the joy of pickled veggies grown in our garden- but the crazy boy hates dill. I'm thinking some garlic and hot chile would appeal to him, but have never made actual pickles before

posted by pdx-R on 2008-04-09 18:07:13
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Will definitely try this.

posted by HZ on 2008-04-09 20:03:26
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Zucchini also works well as a cuke substitute. I tried them with a kosher dill recipe (which I'm totally addicted to... I think I originally got it from How To Cook Everything), and they were great.

posted by tia46 on 2008-04-09 20:05:08
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PDX: The actual principle of pickles in general is pretty easy; you take the vegetables and either soak them in a salt water brine for several days, or you boil vinegar and spices, pour them over the vegetables, and soak them for a few days. Since it's the salt water or the vinegar that does the actual "pickling" part, the types of spices you can put in is very flexible. The classic "bread and butter" pickles don't call for dill, for example -- and there are scores of different types of pickle recipes.

This web site may be a good start:
http://www.pickleking.com/pps/0pickling.shtml

posted by empresscallipygos on 2008-04-10 11:24:52
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Oh, duh, forgot to add -- I've had great success with the simple salt-water-brine method for dill pickles (I also used the How To Cook Everything recipe), and this summer I may try a recipe for pickled green beans I stumbled across in another cookbook.

posted by empresscallipygos on 2008-04-10 11:27:06
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@kat98, it's like a dirty martini but w/ pickle juice instead, and a pickle spear garnish. Num!

@snickitysnack: I only process the jars if they're being kept in the pantry. If the jar is going straight to the fridge and staying there, I don't bother.

@pdx-r: http://txpoppet.blogspot.com/2008/03/no-dill-icicle-pickles.html

posted by Kathryn Hill on 2008-04-10 12:42:42
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