Our Favorite Dill Pickle Recipe With Canning Instructions

For years I would ask around with in my husband's family for Granny's pickle recipe only to be told that Uncle Bud had it and no one else. Finally, Connie got it for me, I received it a few years ago and have been playing around with it every summer.

 If you like your dill pickles salty this is the recipe for you. Loads of dilly flavor, peppery and extra garlic (one of my additions).

This year my daughter picked up pickles at a produce auction.

There were some blackberries too but that's another story. We have a few of our own raspberry and blackberry bushes but we use a great deal more than we harvest so far.
Do your prep work first and canning anything is easy, lots of work but not difficult.
Make sure you have all your ingredients gathered.
Wash everything, jars, rings, canner and have all the new lids you will need, you don't want to run out part way through processing.
Here is the basic recipe that I have tweaked and use with very few variations at this point.
Brine:
1 cup canning/pickling salt (yes, it is different from table salt)
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons white vinegar
1 gallon of purified water
Per quart jar:
1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon dill seed or one whole dill stalk with leaves
2-5 garlic cloves, depending on size or how much you like garlic
I use these amounts for cucumbers, for banana peppers, I increase the garlic and pepper and decrease the dill. I play around with the spices for each different vegetable.
Prep:
Clean jars.

Clean cucumbers and peppers.

Heat brine, you will have to remake this several times depending on the amount you are canning. I know, it looks like a pot of water but really, it has the vinegar and salt in it too and is simmering that's why it appears blurry.

Sterilize the lids by simmering for just a couple minutes.

Halve, quarter or slice the cucumbers.

Seed the peppers and slice.

Fill the canner about half full, yes, I'm a "half full girl", and start the water heating. You want it about the same temperature as the brine so the jars won't crack. If it looks hot it is hot, not rocket science.
Fill jars with cucumbers and/or peppers.

Line up the full jars and add the spices.

Fill with hot brine to 1/2 inch from top, this is called head space.
Place lid on jar,

 screw on ring and place carefully in the canner.
Bring up to rolling boil then start timer for 10 minutes, no longer or you will have mushy pickles.
You must fill the canner or the jars will bump around and crack, if you don't have enough pickles for the last load in the canner then fill a jar with hot water and put it in to fill the empty space.
Remove jars with a jar lifter.

Place hot jars on a towel and leave, as in DO NOT MOVE THEM, over night. The lid should vacuum in and you will hear a little pop on each jar. If this does not happen then the jar did not seal for a variety of reasons, just place jar, once cool, in fridge and in 3 weeks, not before or it will taste like vinegar, eat them.
The next day, remove the rings, wash the sealed jars and label with date because you want to wait the same 3 weeks before opening. Always date the jars so next year you use the older ones up first.

 I am going to experiment with refrigerator pickles soon, I'll let you know.