Kosher Dill Pickles

Thanks to Titi for this recipe. (John thanks you, too. These are his favorite pickles.)

You'll need seven pint-size canning jars with lids and tops and a large canning pot (a pressure cooker is not needed). If you want to double the recipe, 7 quart jars will do, and since these pickles are delicious, you may want to triple or quadruple or quintuple or...whatever...just get more jars.

Wash jars and lids in hot water. If you want, you can keep them in warm water until ready to dry and fill.

4 pounds pickling cucumbers, each about 4" long
14 garlic cloves split (I think I used a few more)
1/4 cup pickling salt (a coarse salt sold in grocery stores)
2 and 3/4 cups white vinegar
3 cups water
14 heads fresh dill (I used dill weed because I had it)
28 peppercorns (I used black with a few scattered other colors from our pepper grinder, and I used a few more than 28 because Millie was "helping")
*** I usually dump about 1/4 tsp. mustard seed into each jar, too.

Wash cucumbers and cut in half lengthwise. (I cut some in quarters for easier jar-stuffing.)

Heat garlic, salt, vinegar, and water to boiling. Remove garlic and place 4 halves into each pint or quart jar, reserving the vinegar solution.

Pack cucumbers into jars, adding 2 heads dill, 4 peppercorns, and 1/4 teaspoon mustard seed. (If you're using dill weed, just stuff however much you want into the cracks between pickles. I used a lot, and the pickles were strong and yummy.) Pour hot vinegar solution over cucumbers to within 1/2" of top. Screw on and adjust lids.

Lower temperature sterilization: Place jars in canner half-filled with warm water (120 to 140 degrees).
Add hot water to a level of 1 inch above the jars.

Heat the water to 180-185 degrees F and start a timer. Process for 30 minutes, checking with a candy or jelly thermometer to be certain that the water temperature is at least 180 degrees F but not much higher. (Temperatures higher than 185F may cause softening of the pickles, but temps. lower than 180 degrees may not kill all the bacteria.)

Immediately remove jars from canning pot at end of processing time. Put jars on a rack or towel so air can move freely around them.

Let pickles ripen in flavor for 6 weeks, or, if you have no willpower, open a jar soon after making them like we do.

Source:
The Encyclopedia of Country Living, p. 332

Yield:
7 pints
NOTES : You can also use regular water bath canning to can the
pickles, but this lower-temperature pasteurization method
results in crunchier pickles. Follow directions
carefully to avoid spoilage.