Pickles In the Sun

My mom is a wonderful example to me as I try to develop more self-reliance.  She has taught me so much and could have taught me so much more had I paid better attention to how she did things while I was growing up.  Thankfully, it is easy to pick up the phone and call her with all my many questions.  Today, you get to learn from her too!  (Aren't moms the best?!)

Guest post from Narene Ireland:

During the early years of our marriage, I made a variety of pickles. I made my mother's "Virginia Chunk" sweet pickles that took six days to process with the changing of the brine each day before canning. I liked these, but my husband preferred dill pickles. I got his mother's "Garlic Dill Pickles" recipe and made those for years along with the Virginia Chunks, Bread-and-Butter Pickles, Cinnamon Cucumber Ring Pickles, and even Crispy Watermelon Rind Pickles.

However, my husband who is not fond of vinegar in recipes, told me he really liked the no-vinegar dill pickles his mother used to make. By this time his mother had passed on, so I asked his two sisters about this recipe. Interestingly, they did not remember having these no-vinegar pickles; and we agreed that to make pickles you needed vinegar, and I was already using his mother's dill pickle recipe and had been for years.

Well, thanks to the coming of the Internet, I did a search one day and, lo and behold, I found a recipe for no-vinegar dill pickles that you place in the sun for 4 to 6 days to process. I tried it, and my husband enjoys these pickles; so I have been making them ever since. We will be eating from a new batch today.

 Ready to make "No Vinegar Dill Pickles."

3.5 - 4 lbs. small pickling cucumbers (not waxed)
15 cloves of garlic, peeled and halved
6 bay leaves
8 cups of water
5 tablespoons canning salt
2 - 3 fresh, small green peppers (we like Jalapeno or Anaheim)
1 large bunch fresh dill (or 1 Tb. dill seed and 1 Tb. dill weed)
8 whole black peppercorns

Place the cucumbers in a clear glass gallon jar. Use whole or spears depending on preference and size of cucumbers. If using spears, trim away and discard portions with larger seeds. Place the cucumbers in layers, between which you place the bay leaves and other spices (not dill or salt). Mix salt and water until turns clear; pour into the jar and then stuff the bunch of dill on top so that it rests in the water. Place peppers on top.

 Let the jar stand in a sunny place where it won't be knocked over.

Heat is not as important as direct sunlight.
You may open the jar after 4 to 6 days;
when done, place in the refrigerator.
(Whole cucumbers may take longer in the sun.)

My daughter shared a favorite refrigerator dill pickle recipe her family enjoys; and I have a batch of these ready to eat, too. They keep in the refrigerator for two months or longer.

 

  Refrigerated Dill Pickles

Brine, heat to boiling:
9 c. water
3 c. dark cidar vinegar
1/2 c. canning salt
1 tsp. powdered alum

Place in bottom of 5-quart ice cream bucket:
2 big heads of fresh dill (or 1 Tb. dill seed and 1 Tb. dill weed)
1/2 medium onion, sliced not too thin
Clove garlic, optional

5-inch long cucumbers, slice lengthwise into spears.
Place spears on end in ice cream bucket while tipping on side.
Pour hot brine over cucumbers. Cool and put in refrigerator.
Ready in 4 days.