UNCLE BILL'S DILL PICKLES

Steps:

• PREPARATION OF DILL CUKES THE NIGHT BEFORE.
• Remove blossom ends and stems and discard.
• Place dill cukes into a large tub or a clean laundry tub.
• Cover with cold water.
• Add 2 bags of ice cubes or 1 block of ice.
• Let chill overnight.
• BRINE.
• In a cooking pot, add water, vinegar, pickling salt and brown sugar and bring to boil.
• Boil for 2 minutes.
• Prepare 4- 1 quart wide mouth canning jars by washing well with soap and water and then rinsing well with hot water.
• Place jars upside down on the rack in the oven and heat at 325 F for about 15 minutes.
• Wash and drain dill cukes.
• Place 1 dill head and stem in the bottom of each jar.
• Stuff the jars with cukes, vertically.
• Stuff a few sliced carrots, 5 garlic cloves and 4 horseradish pieces in the voids between the cukes in each jar.
• Stuff one Jalapeno pepper into each jar.
• Place another dill head and stem on top of the cukes in each jar.
• Fill jars with hot brine to within 1/2" of top of jars.
• Make sure that none of the dill head is touching the top of the jar.
• Push the dill heads down if necessary.
• Wipe tops of jars clean.
• Prepare canning lids according to manufacturers instructions.
• Place lids on jars and screw on screw tops finger tight only.
• Prepare a canner and bring water to a boil.
• Place jars in rack with lids up and immerse in the boiling water.
• Boil or process for 10 minutes.
• Remove jars onto a dish towel and cover with another dish towel to cool.
• Jars are sealed when the lids pop and are concave (curved down).
• Should any jar not seal, just remove the lid and discard and place another prepared lid and repeat the process.
• When cooled and sealed, label jars and store in a cool, dark place.
• Allow 4 to 5 weeks for flavors to develop before using.
• This recipe makes 4- 1 quart jars and requires 12 to 16 dill cukes for each quart depending on the size of the cukes.
• Dill cukes should be 4" to 5" long and as fresh as possible.