Here is the recipe my family uses for our dill pickles every year. When I was little we used to fill our pantry with these and everyone wanted some throughout the year. We gave them as Christmas gifts as well to family friends.
In each quart jar place the following:
2 chili peppers
2 bay leaves
1 clove of garlic (we like garlic so we usually added two)
1/4 tsp. alum
a handfull of fresh dill
Pack the jar with pickling cucumbers, leaving the rim portion of the jar clear.
Pickling liquid
1 1/2 pints of vinegar (3 cups)
2 quarts water
3/4 cup salt
Pour boiling liquid over the pickles to the very top of the jar, and seal with prepared lids.
We would line up a slew of these jars on our kitchen table and then wait for them to pop to seal the jar and then tighten down the ring on the jar. We left them upright for the first 24 hours and then turned them upside down for 24 hours. We then stored them in the pantry for a miminum of 5 weeks before opening one to eat, so the spices had a chance to really work on the pickles. Usually just before Christmas was the first time we would all taste the new batch of pickles.
This batch is enough for 4 or 5 quarts of pickles.
Thank you for your dill pickles recipe.
In the next few coming days, I will try it.
As you said, it does make good gifts.
Yummy!