I am a pickle lover…I could even be considered somewhat of an addict!  I love them!  Not the sweet ones or the bread and butter ones but the Dilly ones and the Kosher ones and even better, the Spicy ones!  I also love to make my own pickles as well… just to tailor make them to my individual tastes and preferences so I can have Dilly, Kosher, and Spicy all in one delicious pickle!

I have what I consider a small but very functional vegetable and herb garden and it is one of my favorite things I look forward to when summer is approaching.  Now by small, I mean I have one cucumber, squash,several varieties of hot pepper plants, and a LOT of tomato plants of all different types.  There are a multitude of various fresh herbs, too.  Usually at the beginning of a garden this size, the produce begins to come in sporadically.  You get a cucumber here and a pepper there…..that is why I love my super easy Spicy Refrigerator Kosher Dill Chip recipe!   (That’s a mouthful to say!)  It is perfect for those times when you have too many cucumbers to eat but really not enough for a whole canning recipe.

What I love most about this recipe (besides how delicious these are) is that when I finish a jar, I keep my brine mixture in the jar and just add more sliced cucumbers to it throughout the summer!  It is also very versatile…If you don’t like spicy pickles, just leave the peppers out and they will still be perfect Kosher Dill Pickle Chips.  The recipe can also be used for pickling onions as my husband did in this picture!

Now you may have noticed these beautiful jars I am using.  They are called Weck Jars and they are from Williams Sonoma.  I prefer to use these when I am doing refrigerator preserving of produce because they look so pretty when you open the fridge.  These are the 12.5 oz size which is smaller than a 16 oz pint. So if you are using pints or even quarts, just adjust the recipe accordingly 🙂 I made three Weck Jars and actually ended up with a few extra sliced cucumbers so the recipe will work perfectly for 3 pints. (I ended up eating the rest of the slices with a little hot sauce…YUM!)

This is how many cucumbers I started with…I wanted to use a few but still have some leftover for salads so I ended up only using 4 cucumbers out of the picture you see.

Ingredients (Makes 3 Pints)

• 4 cucumbers
• 1 bunch of dill
• 1 bunch of chives, sliced into small strips
• 3 cloves of garlic, halved to make 6 pieces (not 3 heads! 🙂
• 3 habenero peppers, cut in half
• 1 large jalapeno, cut into 6 strips (leave seeds in for a spicier pickle)
• 4 cups of water
• 1 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup Ball Kosher Dill Pickle Mix (This the best for crunchy pickles!)
• 3 teaspoons of pickling spice

***See bottom of the page for ingredients for 7 quarts

Directions

Cut your cucumbers into slices at your desired thickness.  We used a mandolin which would give us the “crinkled” texture so they would look prettier.  You could also even cut them into spears as I will be doing when I can mine for pantry storage later this week using a water boiler canner.

Cutting our cucumbers into “crinkles” with the mandolin

Combine water, vinegar, and Ball Kosher Dill Pickle Mix in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.

For each jar, place a couple of sprigs of dill, some chive strips, and 2 pieces of garlic.

Add your cucumbers and tuck in hot peppers.

Add in the teaspoon of pickle spice.

Add hot vinegar mixture to cover pickles and top with an additional sprig or two of dill and some chive strips.  (Don’t get to concerned with exact measurements of your dill and chives…it is more for looks than anything.)

Place your lids on a let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes before placing them in the refrigerator. 

For best flavor, don’t eat for 2-3 weeks.  Replace with new cucumbers when your jars are empty and repeat the storage process.

This recipe works great as well for preserving large quantities for pantry storage in a water bath canner and I will update the exact amounts you need for one canning process later this week!  Happy Pickling!

For 7 Quarts:  (I do these in spears)

• 24 – 26 cucumbers
• 3 bunches of dill
• 3 bunches of chives, sliced into small strips
• 12 cloves of garlic, halved to make 24 pieces (not 3 heads! 🙂
• 7 habenero peppers, cut in half
• 4 large jalapeno, cut into 6 strips (leave seeds in for a spicier pickle)
• 8 cups of water
• 3 cups vinegar
• 1/2 cup Ball Kosher Dill Pickle Mix (This the best for crunchy pickles!)
• 7  teaspoons of pickling spice

Process in a Hot Water Bath for 15 minutes.