Recipe : Dill Sun Pickles
My mom has had this recipe for dill pickles for ages. And I have to say, they are the best pickles ever! No lying. Eating them now brings back great memories of my sisters and I digging into the huge one gallon jar she used to make them in. They never lasted long, not with my 3 sisters and I (yes I have 4 sisters, but one of them is weird and didn’t inherit the love of pickles gene) who loved them so very much! So I now bring you……
The best pickles ever!
My mama’s sun pickle recipe: (alright so it’s not really hers…but whatever!)
6 1/2 cups water
3 1/4 cups white vinegar
2/3 cup canning salt (or use Celtic sea salt as a healthier option)
4-6 cloves of garlic (you can add more if you really like garlic)
1/8 tsp. alum
about 10 medium pickling cucumbers
fresh dill, about 8-10 heads
- Either slice or spear each cucumber.
- Chop garlic into somewhat smallish pieces.
- Pour water, vinegar, salt, and alum into a large mixing bowl or one gallon jar. Stir to dissolve salt.
- Place a head of dill into a one quart jar along with half a chopped garlic clove. Add pickles until half full.
- Repeat layering and pour water mixture over cucumbers and place lid on jar.
- Set out in the sun for 2-3 days, chill and enjoy!
Now for some major tips to make these pickles last for about 6 months.
- If your cucumbers were picked the day you make them, just wash and slice. If you don’t know when they were picked or were picked previously, soak for about an hour in ice water to re-crisp them. Otherwise they may go soggy to soon.
- Use a double lid with ring and rubber seal. (canning lids) This helps with the fermentation by letting air out but not in.
- Do not open the lid to taste test during the 2-3 days period. Only open and enjoy when you’ll be eating the entire jar within a couple weeks.
- The sun part is most likely not necessary, since I have seen other recipes that are extremely similar and they just keep them inside. Although I do love the faded effect these pickles get from the sun, so mine always sit outside!
Hope you try them out, you won’t be disappointed! And granted, this isn’t a fully natural/fermented food, but it’s a lot better than what’s in the stores!
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These sound great! Homemade pickles are SO much better than storebought! I'm saving this one to try
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I think the "faded" look may come from the vinegar destroying the clorophyll. My indoor pickles also lose their bright green color and have a more olive green appearance. Perhaps sun pickles look even more different than that, but there's my two cents. I do heartily agree that homemade pickles are the best!
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I’m trying to research pickling for next season and came across your recipe. It looks good but aren’t you concerned about the use of alum? While this food additive is approved by the FDA it has been shown to be toxic in doses as small as an ounce.
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donielle Reply:
January 4th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
@Lauren, Lauren, I have yet to try this recipe w/o alum, but this is one of my ‘better than store bought’ recipes. It hasn’t been heated and doesn’t contain dyes. And an ounce of alum is a lot!! I have a small 1.9 ounce jar of it and I’ve used it through 4 pickling seasons, making about 2 dozen quarts per year and have yet to even make a dent in the jar. I just looked and it seems I haven’t even used an 1/8 of the jar yet. And yes, I am always concerned about the use of ‘preservative’ type ingredients in any of my food! Sometimes though it’s all about progress, not perfection. And while one day I may get to food ‘perfection’, right now I’m still in progress mode!
Personally though, next summer I would like to try naturally fermenting my pickles!
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I just tried this recipe and wanted to let you know it works GREAT withOUT the alum. I just left it out because I didn’t have it and didn’t feel like a trip to the store. They’ve plenty crunchy. Excellent recipe!
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