What is the process for making dill pickles?
You have two options, depending on time, tastebuds, and ethnic heritage. First option is brine curing, where you scrub small size pickling cukes clean of hairs; dissolve pickling salt into hot or boiling water to make a brine; pack cukes, spices, and dill seed heads in a very clean crock; pour brine over the cukes; weight everything down with a clean plate; place crock in a cool, dark place; skim yeast scum as it forms for several weeks, adding salt brine as needed. [Check out the Tips ‘N Tricks section for a tip to make this job easier.] When done, you either refrigerate or pack your dill pickles into canning jars, waterbath process. BTW, don’t even think of taking a vacation during this procedure; uncontrolled pickle crocks are the most disgusting things in food preservation. The second option is to make quick dill pickles by packing vegetable spears/ chunks tightly in pre-sterilized jars with dill seed heads, then heat a vinegar, water, salt, sugar, spice brine, then pour the soluti