This is a fantastic wild game breakfast sausage recipe to use with geese, duck, or venison. For up to 6 months, cook or freeze. Excellent way to prepare wild game like goose or venison.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 35 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 5 mins |
| Servings: | 35 |
| Yield: | 7 quarts |
Ingredients
- 8 pounds small pickling cucumbers
- 4 cups water
- 4 cups distilled white vinegar
- ¾ cup white sugar
- ½ cup pickling salt
- 3 tablespoons pickling spice, wrapped in cheesecloth
- 7 1-quart canning jars with lids and rings
- 7 heads fresh dill
- 7 cloves garlic
Instructions
- Place cucumbers in a large pot and cover with ice cubes. Let sit for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours. Drain and pat dry.
- Place water, vinegar, sugar, pickling salt, and pickling spice into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.
- Sterilize the jars and lids in boiling water for at least 5 minutes. Pack cucumbers into the hot, sterilized jars, filling the jars to within 1/2 inch of the top. Place 1 dill head and 1 garlic clove into each jar. Pour hot pickling liquid into the jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the rim. Wipe the rims of the jars with a moist paper towel to remove any food residue. Top with the lids and screw on the rings.
- Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then carefully lower the jars into the pot using a holder. Leave a 2-inch space between the jars. Pour in more boiling water if necessary until the water level is at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars. Bring water to a full boil, cover the pot, and process for 5 minutes.
- Remove the jars from the stockpot and place onto a cloth-covered or wood surface, several inches apart, until cool. Once cool, press down on the top of each lid, ensuring the seal is tight (lid should not move up or down at all). If any jars have not been sealed properly, refrigerate them and eat within two weeks.
- Store the sealed jars in a cool, dark area. Wait at least 1 week before opening.
- A dill head is the dill plant’s 3- to 4-inch, umbrella-shaped seed head. If you can’t find fresh dill heads, you may substitute 1 teaspoon dill seeds for 1 dill head.
Reviews
This has become my go-to recipe for dill pickles. Nice balance of flavors. Everyone who’s tried them asks for more. Dill heads aren’t readily available in stores, but this recipe works just fine with fresh dill fronds or dried dill seed and dill is easy to grow in your garden or in pots.
Only change I made is I added dried hot pepper to the pickles and my family and friends love them. I make the other half as plain dill pickle.
I’ve done these 3 years in a row and we love them. Relatively easy to make and taste great!
I have not made pickles before, and liked these very much. I think would reduce the sugar by at least a third next time, for my taste, though. I liked the bold taste!
Well I’m not quite sure what I did wrong but the pickles turned out terrible! They were all shriveled up and looked like I had canned them a 100 years ago! The only thing I did wrong was forgetting to cut the end blossoms off the pickles like everyone tells me I’m supposed to. They were mushy and way too salty also. Any ideas out there?
Pops Pickles are the best made them last year and just made 40 more pounds this year.
I’m not impressed with this recipe at all. The pickling spice totally overwhelmed the dill flavor. I only used 2tbs pickling mix and it was too strong. I also kept adding more water and vinegar in an attempt to make it edible, no such luck. IMHO vinegar, salt, sugar, and dill are sufficient to make a good dill pickle. Perhaps in 4 or 5 weeks the flavor will mellow, I hope so.
I was happy with this recipe. For my taste I am trying a little less vinegar/water ratio, and doubling dill seed. What I likes was the overall taste was good. The pickles were crunchy. Nice.
I cut the sugar to 1/3 cup. Tart crispy pickles……people love them.
One of my favorites.
My second year making these, so good. I made a double batch of brine to finish 16- 1.0 liter jars with just enough brine. Fill the jars as full as you can with cukes, it works.
I made these today and it smells great. I won’t be able to try them for a bit but I will say the recipe is inaccurate. I was only able to fill 2 and 3/4 of a quart jar so I had to rush to make and prepare more brine to finish off the rest of my jars. I ended up tripling the recipe and was able to fill 9 quart jars with a little liquid left. I probly could have filled 10.
These are great and I’ve done them several times now but you have to double the recip! I think this was intended for up to 8 PINTs not quarts. Also, I reduce the sugar by 1/3 and add chili flakes and people tell me they’re the best they’ve ever had 🙂
I loved it… very easy and the family loves the pickles
Just a note- A recipe exactly like this only calling for 3/4 c salt is called “Quick Dill Pickles” in the book “Putting Food By” by Greene, Hertzberg, and Vaughan. In the book, the YIELD IS 7 PINTS, not 7 quarts. All other ingredients and amounts are exactly the same, even including the suggestion of adding 1 clove garlic per jar. I don’t share this because I have any problem with the author of this recipe, but simply to verify other reviewers’ observations that the recipe as written here doesn’t make 7 quarts. So, adjust your expectations/amounts and enjoy making delicious pickles!
The first years I tried making pickles, they often turned out limp and unsatisfying. The trick i learned from this is the ice bath beforehand. Absolutely essential. As for this recipe, I made this for two years, and the first year everyone in the family loved them; then my daughter decided she did not want sugar any more. So the pickles sat on the shelf. However, I discovered that by removing the sugar, you still get the great garlic dill flavor, just a bit tangier and without the sweetness. This is a good recipe.
I followed the recipe exactly, found like several others that I did not have enough liquid. That wasn’t a tragedy—I made more. The problem for me is that the pickles are waaaay too salty! I also didn’t understand the instructions to cover the cucumbers with ice. Why? The ones on top obviously get much more exposure to the ice than those on the bottom. Maybe ice water would be better? Other than that, they were reasonably easy to do and I liked that the recipe could be scaled. I suggest packing your cucumbers into the jars ahead of time so that you know how many jars you’ll need. In my opinion, the jars don’t need to be pre-boiled—dish washer and keep them hot should be sufficient, but check with your extension office on this. Also, scrub and trim the blossom end before the ice treatment.
Crispy crunchy pickles! I followed another recipe and it didn’t turn out edible. I was scared to try this one but this recipe was the most easiest and spot on for measurements. Love that you can change the serving size to fit your amount of cucumbers available.
I doubled the brain mixture as I saw other reviews that suggested that and I had exactly enough. I know it takes a few weeks to pickle but everything looks great and I enjoyed it as it was a very easy recipe and the results hopefully will be excellent
I did not have enough brine, I even added more to the receipe…I thought I packed the jars tight Added the garlic, peppercorns and a few red Thai chilies in a couple, I like them zesty!
Made this evening (8-4-2020). A little aggravating having to go back and make a whole batch of brine. Had to double it to fill seven quart jars. This recipe needs updating. Will update my review once I try them in a few weeks.