I'm not Sharon but here's her recipe Sol!
I'm in the "wait 6-8 weeks mode"....
I'm never gonna make it...

Chase's Dills
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You can usually count on between 6-8 dills (cukes) per 1 quart jar, depending on size.
Use 3" to 4" cukes that have just been picked.
Place the cukes in ice cold water (I use my bath tub!!) and add a bag or two of ice to the water. The cukes should stay in the ice water for a minimum of 2
hours but no more than 8. Refresh the ice as required.
I make the brine in great big batches using this ratio:
4 cups white vinegar
4 cups water
1/3 cup coarse pickling salt
For each jar of dills you will need 2 nice size garlic cloves peeled and cut in
half (4 pieces) and two dill heads. Leave the cukes whole.
I sterilize my jars using the sani cycle of the dishwasher (you could boil the jars instead) When they are really hot, almost at the end of the cycle I place them in a oven at 150 degrees to keep them good and hot.
Make the brine and bring the brine to a full and rolling boil.
Place the rings and lids in a large saucepan with water and bring them almost to the boil. Then turn down but keep them hot.
Place the cukes, garlic and dill in the hot jars. I do garlic, dill, cukes, garlic, dill. Pour brine over the cukes. Only do 2 jars at a time, leave the rest in the oven to keep them hot.
Wipe the rim really well, this is critical to sealing, and place lid and ring on and screw to finger tight.
Let sit 6-8 weeks before eating!

Deanna

Thanks for posting Deanna.......that's the recipe! Several here have tasted them and / or made them and they do seem to get a favourable response. Hang in and wait the full time, it's worth it!

Sol, in the interest of full disclosure (watching way too much CNBC these days!!!!!) I do not use a hot water bath which is why the pickles are so crisp but the pickling police aren't in favour of this method. Just be sure to use pickling vinegar and make sure the jars and brine are very hot and the jars will seal. I have never had an issue.

[Sol I am so happy to be reminded in another thread that I'm not the only adult in the world to have icanhavecheezburger as a favorite site. Wheze mah bukkit?]

Thank you Deanna! And don't let the power of pickling salt compel you, hang in there.

Wow, these cukes must be lethal if there's a 6 to 8 weeks waiting period. I could own a gun in less time than it takes to make dills.
But, this will work out fine. Holding up a 7/Eleven was not on my itinerary for this week anyway, and certainly not with one of Sharon's pickles. Thanks dear Sharon.

EJ, ure nut the only one. Meh alwayz geek out when I check out their kittehs. That site rulz!

Sol

I'm trying to resist.........
Thankfully, I also made about a gallon of fermented dill pickles that don't take so long...we're eating those while we wait...and wait....and wait!

:+)

Well worth it though. I had a pretty darned good refrigerator recipe, but Sharon's are better and I don't have to have the extra fridge running in the garage just for pickles!!!

Deanna
(Hoping the police don't come, I don't water bath them either. If any "little critters" can survive the vinegar, I guess I'm had!! I am considering making the brine a 50 water/50 vinegar mix next year though as that's the recommendation now. We'll see. Maybe just a few to try it...don't want to "fix" a good thing!)

as I understand the cold water bath makes the cukes come out much crisper than they would otherwise...

Deanna, being fairly new to canning, I appreciate the tip about skipping the hot water bath altogether.
But just to clarify, if I keel over, you'll become an accessory to manslaughter ;-ÃÂ

Thanks again Deanna and Sharon!

Sol

Just for the record, I know the USDA says it isn't safe, but I'm a rebel and a renegade and I don't eat very many dill pickles. I don't waterbath these either.

And yes, I know they have revoked the Master Canner designation for less rebellion than that. I figure I get to choose the "chances" I want to take and this is one of them. Personally, I think the "chances" of problems are pretty small. Maybe smaller than that.

Annie

I've been making these over 30 years ( first batch I was only 10 ; ) and I'm still alive!!!

The purpose of a hot water bath is to ensure sealing, not to kill bacteria. That's why HWB is only used on high acid /high sugar recipes. Low acid foods, like beans, require processing in a high pressure canner which prevents nasty things like botulism!

The worse that can happen with high acid foods, if you don't use a hot water bath, is that jars don't seal well and the contents spoil...and trust me you will know if they have spoiled! Mushy , stinky, yucky ...oh and they can ferment and expode...but they won't silently kill you. LOL

Hot brine and hot jars and they will seal, if some don't just store in the fridge.

Deanna, come back and share your fermented pickle recipe please!
I made my first fermented "thing"...salsa..yummy...But I don't have enough fridge space to house alot of jars..LOL

I have a big plastic container of the Sweet Dill recipe shared here when I asked earlier in the spring..I haven't eaten to many...but they are good!

Chase, the USDA says the chance of weaker seals increases the chance of spoilage. I know some people who will actually eat moldy jelly or whatever, just scrape off the mold. Now the experts have decided that the mold spores get all the way through the food, it should all be discarded to avoid food poisoning.

Now, since I don't eat anything moldy and throw anything away that I'm doubtful of, I doubt I'll get food poisoning from eating spoiled pickles. That said, a bunch of my family ended up in the emergency room with food poisoning from a batch of my Aunt LulaBelle's pickled mushrooms.

Mind you, I don't know how clean her kitchen was, I don't know the vinegar to water ratio, I don't know the process used to can them, so I'm sure not going to blame it on the process, but a person could get sick from eating pickled foods and not have them taste bad.

At any rate, I don't waterbath those pickles, LOL. I think anything with that 50/50 vinegar ratio is pretty safe, that much vinegar has to kill nearly anything.

Annie