Reduced Sodium Polish Dill Pickles
I like dill pickles and since being put on a low sodium diet they were pretty much off limits until I found this recipe.
I like dill pickles and since being put on a low sodium diet they were pretty much off limits until I found this recipe.
- Carbohydrate 7.66675746365714 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.0989823809333333 g
- Fiber 0.406427410276126 g
- Protein 0.479011851619048 g
- Saturated Fat 0.0293091521580952 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (108g)
- Sodium 467.796415367619 mg
- Sugar 7.26033005338102 g
- Trans Fat 0.0290296480457143 g
- Calories 36 calories
Step-by-step
- Thoroughly was cucumbers, scrubbing lightly with a soft vegetable brush and removing all dirt and sand. Discard stem and blossom ends. Cut cucumbers into spears or slice lengthwise or cut into coins.
- Prepare pickling liquid - combine sugar, salt, vinegar and water in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan; bring to a boil.
- In a hot jar, place 1 clove garlic, 1 tsp peppercorns, 2 bay leaves and 3 heads fresh dill. (If using quart jars instead of pint jars double the above amounts in each jar.)
- Pack cucumbers into hot jar to within 1/2 inch of top rim. Add hot pickling liquid to cover cucumbers to within 1/4 inch of top rim (headspace). Using a nonmetallic utensil, remove air bubbles. Whipe jar rim removing any stickiness.
- Center snap lid on jar; apply screw band securely and firmly until resistance is met - fingertip tight. Do not overtighten. Place jar in canner; repeat for remaining jars.
- Cover canner; bring water to a boil. At altitudes up to 1000 ft, process - boil filled jars - 10 minutes. Remove jars without tilting. Cool upright, undisturbed for 24 hours. Do not retighten screw bands. After cooling check jar seals. Sealed lids curve downward. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars as desired. Label and store jars in a cool dark place.
Modifying standard brine ratios by cutting the sodium down requires careful balancing with acid to maintain both food safety and proper cell wall preservation in the vegetable. Standard preservation relies heavily on salt concentration to draw out moisture and inhibit spoilage microbes, so when sodium is reduced, white vinegar must step in to provide the necessary acidic barrier against bacterial growth.
Stainless steel or enamel cookware is mandatory when heating the pickling liquid because reactive metals like aluminum will pit and leach metallic off-flavors into the acidic vinegar solution during boiling. Use a soft vegetable brush to scrub away residual soil from the cucumber skins prior to cutting, as surface dirt introduces unwanted wild yeasts that can interfere with the pickling environment inside the sealed container.
Garlic cloves, whole peppercorns, dried bay leaves, and fresh dill heads placed at the base of each hot jar infuse the brine as thermal processing occurs. Packing the vegetable spears tightly ensures they remain submerged beneath the liquid, preventing oxidation and discoloration of the produce during the initial twenty-four-hour cooling window.
Processing filled containers in a boiling water canner for ten minutes at elevations up to 1,000 feet creates the vacuum seal necessary for shelf stability. Lids must curve downward firmly as the jars cool completely undisturbed, after which the screw bands should be removed entirely to prevent rust formation during long-term dark storage.
