Ingredients:

  • 4 lbs Kirby or pickling cucumbers, sliced into spears
  • 6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
  • 6 sprigs fresh dill
  • 6 tsp Pickle Crisp
  • 4 cups distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)
  • 4 cups filtered water
  • 1/2 cup pickling salt
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes

Instructions:

  1. Wash and scrub cucumbers thoroughly. Slice 1/16th of an inch off the blossom end of each cucumber to remove enzymes that cause softening.
  2. Cut cucumbers into spears or rounds.
  3. Keep canning jars in simmering water to sterilize and prevent cracking when filled with hot brine.
  4. Place smashed garlic, dill, peppercorns, and mustard seeds at the bottom of each sterilized jar.
  5. Add 1 tsp of Pickle Crisp to each jar.
  6. Pack the cucumber spears vertically into the jars, leaving approximately 1/2 inch of headspace at the top.
  7. In a stainless steel pot, combine distilled white vinegar, filtered water, pickling salt, and sugar. Bring to a boil.
  8. Carefully pour the hot brine over the cucumbers in each jar, maintaining the 1/2 inch headspace.
  9. Use a bubble remover tool to eliminate trapped air from the jars.
  10. Wipe the jar rims clean, apply new canning lids and bands, tightening them until finger-tip tight.
  11. Process the jars in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.
  12. Remove jars and allow them to cool undisturbed for 24 hours to ensure a vacuum seal.