These pickles are simply amazing. If you plant pickling cucumbers in the summer, you will be canning them all summer long. Crisp and fresh, these will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 months. Since they take up room in the fridge, you will want to share with family and friends!
You can get your pickling cucumbers at a farmer’s market, but if you want to plant your own cucumbers in the summer, this is a great variety — Burpee Pickler Hybrid. We harvested hundreds of pickling cucumbers this summer (2024), which produced about 80 containers of delicious pickles of all sizes, not including all of the cucumbers we ate right out of the garden. (Since it’s a hybrid, you can’t save the seeds to plant the following growing season. ☹️)
Pro tip: If the pickling cucumbers you get at the farmer’s market seem a bit soft (from being out in the heat or if they are a day old), try soaking them in ice cold water for a couple of hours to perk them up before pickling them.

Crisp Fresh Dill Refrigerator Pickles
Ingredients
Brine
- 6 c water
- 2¾ c vinegar
- 2 heaping tbsp sea salt (regular salt is okay if you're in a pinch, but best if non-iodized, which may make your pickles less crisp)
- 1 tsp alum or Pickle Fresh (calcium chloride) (link to buy on Amazon below)
Seasoning & cucumbers per PINT jar/container
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 2 white pearl (cocktail) onions
- 2-3 dill weed heads
- 4-6 peppercorns
- 1 shake red pepper flakes (one light shake, or more if you like spicy pickles)
- 1 tsp about 8-10 coriander seeds (cilantro seeds)
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- Fresh medium (4"-6" long) pickling cucumbers if medium in size, slice in half. If small, keep whole.
Instructions
- Heat water, vinegar, alum and salt to boiling over medium high heat.
- Put in refrigerator to completely cool, best to do so for several hours or overnight. Brine must be VERY cold when adding to pickles or your pickles will be soft instead of crisp.
- Add dill, garlic, onion and seasoning spices to jar. (The spice amounts don't need to be exact. I guesstimate it by just putting the seasonings in the container.)
- Add washed, trimmed (stem & flower end) and halved pickles. (I read somewhere that you should be sure to remove just the little tip of the flower end, because it helps keep the pickles more crisp over time.)
- Fill jar with brine to within ½ inch of the top.
- Place lid on the jar and tighten.
- Tilt jar back and forth to mix up the spices.
- Refrigerate for at least 2-3 days before eating. (Although I will cheat sometimes and have one the day after!)
Notes
Starting in 2022, I started using a new pickle crisper ingredient called “Pickle Fresh” instead of alum. It seems to be working well, but alum will work in a pinch. I bought a 1.5lb container of it, and it will probably last me for the next 8-10 years. You can find it on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Hoosier-Hill-Farm-Pickle-granules/dp/B01KVHASZS?ref_=ast_sto_dp
And… we’re at 70+ containers and counting this summer (2024). Expect pickles at every gathering we attend!
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