I am sorry, it is not safe. You must have at least, if not more, vinegar that is 5 % acidity to water ratio. You have 12 cups water and only 4 cups vinegar. You would need 12 cups vinegar for that recipe or only have 4 cups water...
I am glad you asked so you will now be able to have a safe recipe. Those old recipes were based on vinegar that could have been up to 40% acidity. Not our 5 % that we use now. You need to be careful, because some of the less expensive vinegars are only 4% now.
In the bathtub ?!

That was the conclusion I was coming to! Thought I would ask to make sure. :) It is kind of aggravating because I remember when this recipe site edited or added the BWB step to make it "safe". In turn giving me a false sense of security! Well I know now! LOL! Just for the record~ I never used my bathtub! :0

Thanks again!
Keri

I'm wondering if there's a step missing - or if someone changed it to make it "safe" (or so they thought) by doing BWB. Looked familiar - I just checked, it's close to the BBB "Brined Dill Pickles" on page 47, EXCEPT that it misses the step where the pickles are fermented for a few weeks.

Here's the Ball recipe (which I haven't made, haven't had that many cukes so just ferment and stick in the fridge w/o processing):

Yield: about 6 quarts

10 pounds 4- to 6-inch cucumbers
3/4C mixed pickling spices, divided
2 to 3 bunches fresh or dried dill, divided
1.5 C canning salt
2C vinegar
2 gal (16C) water
6 cloves garlic (optional)

Wash and drain cucumbers. Place half the pickling spices and one layer of dill in a clean pickling container. Add cucumbers to within 4 inches of top. Combine salt, vinegar, and water, ladle over cucumbers. Place a layer of dill and remaining spices over the top. Add garlic, if desired. Weight cucumbers under brine.

Store container in a cool place. Let cucumbers ferment until well flavored with dill and clear throughout. Pickles should be ready to can in 2 to 3 weeks.

Remove pickles from brine. Strain the brine; bring to a boil in large saucepot. Pack pickles into hot jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Ladle hot liquid over pickles, leaving 1/4" headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling water canner.

HTH

Oops, sorry, I added the "(16C)" for comparison but that was 1 gal, 2 gal is 32 cups! So there's actually a lot more vinegar in your recipe (though not enough for a quick pickle), that may be too much for fermentation.

So I have no idea what the author intended, but don't use it, use a safe one.

I used the Pick Your Own website recipe which uses water, and says you can process the pickles. So now I'm wondering too. I thought adding water was rather odd as well, but the recipes I've used at Pick Your Own have all been very safe in the past...

So should I get rid of the pickles? I have been storing them now since processing them on Sunday. I only did 4 jars, and then I switched to a bread and butter pickle recipe from the NFP which doesn't call for water. The rest of my pickles are perfectly safe 9 day Icicle Pickles (my favorite pickle!)

Thanks,
GGG

Stepping out on a limb here, but the reason Gilrydahl's recipe seems familiar is that it is essentially the same as a Cooking Forum member's famous dill pickles. The recipe has been posted several times on various GardenWeb forums. The big difference is that water bath processing instructions have been added. I agree that the instructions were probably included by someone else in the hope of making the overall recipe safe.

The Cooking Forum member no longer posts her recipe because it does not conform to the latest safe canning guidelines. However, other forum members still share and use her recipe.

Here is a link that might be useful: Famous Dill Pickles

I used the Pick Your Own website recipe which uses water, and says you can process the pickles. So now I'm wondering too. I thought adding water was rather odd as well, but the recipes I've used at Pick Your Own have all been very safe in the past...

So should I get rid of the pickles? I have been storing them now since processing them on Sunday. I only did 4 jars, and then I switched to a bread and butter pickle recipe from the NFP which doesn't call for water. The rest of my pickles are perfectly safe 9 day Icicle Pickles (my favorite pickle!)

The issue is NOT that it uses water but what the ratio of water to vinegar is. So which PYO recipe did you use specifically? I dug around but they are several. Link to it please. Many of their recipes for canning are safe since they are just copies of NCHFP and Ball. Some have been way too modified.

If you use recipes from approved sources then you don't have to worry.

Dave

Just to add, my old pickle recipe, passed down a few generations and we loved it, had the same ratio vinegar to water - 1 qt (4 C) vinegar to 3 qts water (12 C). I tried making them with 2 qts vinegar to 2 quarts water to bring the recipe to current guidelines but we didn't like them as well.

So sadly that recipe is retired, and I understand you must be disappointed. I was too, but I don't need risks in the kitchen.

As for the bathtub, our local paper ran a story several years back where the author/cook put her cukes in her washing machine rather than scrub them, so 'gentle cycle' was part of the pickle prep instructions. I'm all for cutting corners when it makes sense to me to do so, but I didn't try that either :)

I'd be afraid I hadn't sanitized the bathtub well enough (or about the cleaners). If I ever get that many pickles, I have a HUGE stainless steel bowl I can use to ice them down in. And some icing buckets from a bakery to ferment in.

My cousin gave up on the idea of the salvaged bathtub to ferment his pickles in. I gave him a 5-gal duck sauce bucket. I've got 2 quarts (in old Vlasic jars) fermenting for him right now - should be ready in a few days (using Linda Z's Half Sour recipe).

Dave, here's the recipe http://www.pickyourown.org/makingpickles.htm

OK, these aren't "dills" per se. But I added dill, I did not want a quick pickle recipe and that is what is on the NFP site. The Ball site uses equal vinegar and water. I actually added more vinegar to the pick your own recipe because A) I was nervous and b) I like things more vinegary than the average bear.

One of the drawbacks of using Ball recipes is that they suggest only their products in the process. I am celiac so I don't use mixes of things.

I don't understand. You say you didn't want a quick pickle recipe and you didn't want to use a packaged mix but that is exactly what the recipe link you used is - a quick pack using a packaged mix.

Maybe there are some basic misunderstandings here. First, there are basically 4 ways to make pickles: fermented, quick pack, refrigerated, or one of the pre-packaged mix. All of them are different, all require different levels of acidity, and they are not inter-changeable.

If you want to process them for self storage then you have 3 choices: fermented, quick pack or a mix. If you can't use one of the packaged mixes you are left with fermented or quick pack using your own seasoning mix.

If you used the PYO instructions you linked but did NOT use the packaged mix then your pickles are likely unsafe for shelf storage because the mixes contain citric acid for acidification to make them safe. No citric acid means you have to use much more vinegar - like 2x as much.

One of the drawbacks of using Ball recipes is that they suggest only their products in the process. I am celiac so I don't use mixes of things.

None of the Ball Blue Book recipes even mentions using Ball products. Neither does NCHFP.

Dave

I appreciate your help Dave. The recipes suggest things like this mix, theirs (or like Pick Your Own, someone elses). Which I can not use.
I did not realize that the mix had citric acid, which I would have added myself if I would know how much to add. I have it on hand. I will get rid of these pickles. The recipe I used does have (if you read to the bottom) directions for canning the pickles I made, for 10 minutes in a BWB. Which is exactly why I used that recipe. My only mistake was not realizing that there was extra citric acid needed.
We have plenty of pickles!

Thanks,
ggg

GGG, Ball Blue Book - the book, magazine sized softcover, available Target etc, hardware stores and with canning supplies. I didn't buy one this year but I think the one I bought last season was less than $6 Walmart.

There is a whole chapter on pickling foods and about 15 of the recipes are for different types pickles, none of which indicate use of a prepared mix, Ball's own or any other brand. It can be a better source for finding approved recipes for canning than online searches - something there should fit your diet needs without additional guesswork.

I don't have plenty of pickles. Yet. :) In fact, I just got home from grocery shopping - we have two large stores in this small community and Safeway where I shopped today had no hamburger dill chips to tide me over! Not even an empty space where some should have been, apparently they aren't stocking them, only wholes and spears.