These are the pickles that remind me of my childhood. Probably because Kosher Dill Pickles are my Grandma’s go-to dill pickles to can.

Something about the smell just brings me back to a kid at her house, watching her fill jars with cucumbers, garlic, peppers and dill. Gives me a happy heart ♥. Grandma is still canning, just not as much these days. She really enjoys that I am carrying on a skill that is not as common these days.

Why Kosher?

I don’t know. I just like the taste! Seriously, there is no special dietary reason that I make them this way. Again, they were my favorites growing up and why change up a good thing?

The addition of a bay leaf, garlic, hot pepper, and mustard seed is what makes these kosher dill pickles.

How do I keep my home-canned pickles crisp?

Ahh, the million dollar question. Answer- luck. Honestly crisp pickles are not easy to make! There are a lot of factors that can go into your cucumbers turning out to be nice and crisp pickles or sad limp ones. Sometimes you can do everything “right” and they still don’t turn out perfect. Since it is not the easiest feat to accomplish, good taste needs to be high on your “wants” list in a good home-canned pickle.

There are a few things you can do to have the odds better in your favor:

Process cucumbers as soon as you can after picking. Waiting a few days will almost always yield soft pickles. You can put the pickles in the refrigerator or even in ice water to keep them cold but still try and get to them within a day of picking. If you wait too long, don’t fear, I love to make pickle relish out of my “whoops I forgot about those” cucumbers.
Small firm cucumbers= firm pickles. Big soft cucumbers= soft pickles. Need I explain more?
Cut off the blossom end. Whether this really works or not is uncertain but many people cut off the blossom end of the cucumber to help yield a crisp pickle.
Use Pickle Crisp (affiliate link). This is an additive that you can put in your jars to help keep the pickles nice and crisp. It is safer than the old-fashioned way of adding pickling lime/alum (I’m not trying to bring back everything that is old-fashioned. haha)
Add grape/oak leaves. Honestly this one hasn’t worked for me but some people swear by it! Add a grape or oak leaf to your jar and it is supposed to help keep them nice and firm!
Process the jars as quickly as possible. Put your jars in the canner when the water is boiling to reduce the time they are being heated.

And if you do all of that but your pickles are still mushy?

Throw in the towel. Canning is not for you. Kidding. Achieving crisp pickles is like the holy grail in the canning world. It’s not easy for even the most seasoned canners and you definitely shouldn’t beat yourself up about it. Just keep trying- you will eventually get some perfect ones!

Kosher Dill Pickles- Home Canning

Delicious every time home-canned dill pickle recipe! (Ball® Canning Recipe)

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Servings 3 quarts

Ingredients

8 pounds pickling cucumbers 4-6 inch
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canning/pickling salt
1 quart water
1 quart white vinegar
3 tbsp mixed pickling spices
fresh dill 1 head fresh or 1 tbsp dried per quart jar
bay leaves one per jar
hot red pepper
mustard seed
whole garlic 1 clove per jar

Instructions

Wash cucumbers; drain. Cut cucumbers as desired (halve, length wise, slices, or leave small ones whole).
Combine sugar, salt, vinegar and water in a large saucepan. Tie spices in a spice bag or cheesecloth; add spice bag to vinegar mixture; simmer 15 minutes.
Pack cucumbers into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace; put one head of dill (or dill seed) into each jar. Add 1 bay leaf, 1 clove of garlic, 1 piece of hot red pepper, and 1/2 tsp mustard seed to each jar.
Ladle hot liquid over cucumbers, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps.
Process pints and quarts 15 minutes in boiling water canner.