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–+ servings

Canned Dill Pickles

Created by: Sarah Mock
A glass jar filled with homemade dill pickles, mustard seeds, and spices sits on a wooden surface with more jars and cucumbers in the background.
prep time1 day
cook time10 minutes
total time1 day 10 minutes
Makes 6 Pints

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds pickling cucumbers (3"-5" in length)
  • 10 Tablespoons Canning Salt
  • 1 gal Water

Pickle Brine

  • 3 Cups white vinegar
  • 1 quart Water
  • 2 Tablespoons Sugar
  • 1 Tablespoons Pickling Spices

Add to each jar

  • 1 each Dill Frond
  • 1 each garlic clove (smashed)
  • ½ Teaspoon Mustard seeds
  • ¼ Teaspoons pepper corns

Instructions
 

  • Wash the cucumbers well, then slice a 1/16-inch piece off the blossom end of each one and discard it, leaving about ¼ inch of stem attached.
    4 pounds pickling cucumbers
    A pile of cut cucumbers and sliced stem ends are arranged on a wooden cutting board in a kitchen with jars and utensils in the background, ready to be transformed into crisp dill pickles.
  • Dissolve canning salt in 1 gallon of water, pour it over the cucumbers, and let them stand at room temperature for 12 hours. Drain well.
    1 gal Water, 6 Tablespoons canning salt
    Two side-by-side photos show a glass jar on a plate over a bowl labeled "Before" and "After 24 Hrs," with the jar lowered in the second image, illustrating how brining pickles creates noticeable changes from weight or pressure over time.
  • Wash pint jars, lids, and bands in hot, soapy water, then sterilize the jars in boiling water or run them through your dishwasher's sanitize cycle.
    Four empty glass mason jars are placed upside down on a round metal tray in a kitchen, ready to be filled with homemade fig preserves, with a large pot visible in the background.
  • Combine the vinegar, remaining salt, sugar, and 1 quarts water in a large pot.
    4 Tablespoons canning salt, 3 Cups white vinegar, 1 quart Water, 2 Tablespoons Sugar, 1 Tablespoons Pickling Spices
    Stainless steel pan with oil heating and red pepper flakes scattered in the center.
  • Fill each hot, sterilized jar with drained cucumbers, tucking in 1 fresh dill frond, ½ teaspoon mustard seed and ¼ teaspoon pepper corns per pint jar.
    1 each Dill Frond, 1 each garlic clove, ½ Teaspoon Mustard seeds, ¼ Teaspoons pepper corns
    A glass jar of dill pickles with dill and mustard seeds sits on a striped cloth, surrounded by bowls of dried spices and a spoon.
  • Ladle the boiling pickling solution over the cucumbers, leaving ½ inch of headspace at the top of each jar.
    A glass jar filled with cucumber spears, dill, and spices is on a counter next to metal tongs and a bowl of more cucumbers.
  • Run a thin spatula or bubble tool around the inside of each jar to release trapped air pockets, wipe the rims clean of any brine, then add lids and bands until fingertip tight.
    A hand holds a mason jar filled with pickling cucumbers, dill, and spices. Sliced cucumbers, bowls, and kitchen tools are on the counter in the background.
  • Process pint jars for 10 minutes if you're at 0 to 1,000 feet elevation, 15 minutes at 1,001 to 6,000 feet, or 20 minutes above 6,000 feet.
    A hand holds a mason jar filled with pickling cucumbers, dill, and spices. Sliced cucumbers, bowls, and kitchen tools are on the counter in the background.
  • Let jars cool undisturbed on the counter for 12 to 24 hours, then press the center of each lid; it shouldn't flex or pop back. Remove the bands, label your jars with the date, and store any jar that didn't seal in the refrigerator to eat right away instead of the pantry.
    A glass jar of homemade dill pickles with spices sits on a wooden surface, with cucumbers and more jars blurred in the background.
    • Tucking a grape leaf into each jar is an old pickling trick, and it's a real one; grape leaves are naturally high in tannins, the same compound that inhibits the enzyme responsible for softening pickles. Just know it's mostly doing backup work here, since the blossom-end trim in Step 1 already knocks out that enzyme at the source. If you want a firming method that's doing real, active work on its own, look for calcium chloride at the canning supply aisle (sold as Pickle Crisp or Xtra Crunch); it's what modern extension guidance actually recommends, and unlike older tricks like a lime soak, it won't touch your brine's acidity.

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