Pickles in Under Three Hours

July 25, 2008

National Pickle Month may be coming to a close, but pickles are delicious in any month. With a bounty of Summer produce and the rising costs of prepared food, more and more people are taking up home canning. Because pickles happen to be one of my favorite snacks, I decided to take a stab at making them. However, I'm an impatient cook, an attribute that isn't conducive to making pickles. When I came across this recipe for quick dill pickles, I knew it was perfect. To see how these spears went from cucumbers to pickles in under three hours, read more.

Adapted from Cook's Country

Quick Pickles

Ingredients

1 pound pickling (Kirby) cucumbers, each sliced into 4 spears
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon dried dill weed
6 garlic cloves, smashed
1 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup ice

Directions

Toss cucumbers with salt in a colander set over a bowl. Let stand 1 hour. Discard liquid.
Place peppercorns, dill weed, garlic, and 1/2 cup fresh dill in paper coffee filter or several layers of cheese cloth, and tie tightly with kitchen twine. Bring spice bag and vinegar to a boil in medium saucepan.
Reduce heat to low and add cucumbers. Cover and cook until cucumbers turn a dull olive brown, about 5 minutes. Discard spice bag.
Transfer cucumbers and liquid to glass bowl, add ice, and stir until melted. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon fresh dill.
Refrigerate, uncovered, at least 1 hour before serving. Pickles can be refrigerated in a covered container for up to 2 weeks.

Makes 1 jar of pickles.

View 7 Photos ›

11 Comments

flyingroo 4 years

All is good except this way almost all of the good stuff that "normal" pickles contain is lost, I'm talking about vitamins especially vitamin C) and minerals. To make pickles the "old" way does not require that much time and preparation, just do it in a larger jar, so you can enjoy it for longer :-)

smileyface 4 years

I LOVE pickles. I will have to try these!

cyrizzle 4 years

if only i could figure out how to make the sweet ones. i much prefer those to dill pickles...

rabidmoon 4 years

I will try it as well. My frustration with pickles here is the ALL HAVE sugar in them. Grrr...I like those lovely sour crunchy style dills, so I am thrilled to find a way to make some pickles without sugar. Will definitely check this out.

Community Manager 4 years

I have to give this a try! I just love pickles!

nancita 4 years

I have never tried to make pickles but I LOVE them. Now I am inspired; this looks so simple!

shoneyjoe 4 years

I'm not wild about cooked pickles, I'll be honest. Something about that texture just puts me off.

nevadamtnbear 4 years

Yumm, I'll have to try those. We make batches upon batches of pickled green beans when they are on sale. I'll also make pickled carrots and garlic. This seems like it might be a good alternative, because I hate a mushy cucumber. We've been home canning regularly for about 2 years now. It's so nice to have a ready supply of foods in our pantry. We have taken to canning meat this past year too, and that's awesome. Want sloppy joes...but all your burger meat is frozen, no problemo, just heat up a jar of canned ground beef. Tired, don't want to prepare a meal, but don't want to spend the cash to go out to eat...not a problem, crack open a can of home made canned chili. I can't wait for us to get our kitchen remodel finished....I am eager to start canning again.