The recipe below is similar to that for Hot Garlic Dill Pickles except for the elimination of red pepper flakes, a reduced amount of garlic, and the addition of sugar, mustard seed and black peppercorns.
If you want some background discussion of making pickles you can read the Food Nirvana recipe for Hot Garlic Dill Pickles. What is provided here is only the essential information for making the Sweet Garlic Dill Pickles.
I have suggested adding a bit of calcium chloride to my original recipe here to enhance crispness. You may choose to use or not use the the calcium chloride, but now I do. I found food grade calcium chloride at www.BulkFoods.com and purchased it inexpensively. Just remember that using too much of it makes the pickles poisonous. Follow the instructions exactly.
Supplies and Equipment:
One white plastic five gallon bucket with a lid (I buy them at Home Depot® in the paint area)
A dinner plate and something to use as weights to hold it under the brine, like two drinking water bottles filled with water and tightly capped
Canning jars, screw-on lids and inserts, or vacuum sealing bags and a vacuum sealer
A long wooden spoon for stirring the bucket contents
Ingredients:
10 lbs. of fresh young pickling cucumbers each about four to six inches long, washed and dried and cut into lengthwise slices 1/4" thick.
6 to 8 large heads of fresh seeded dill or equivalent fronds of dill from the supermarket produce area (washed in cold water and stem areas cut off)
1 quart of white distilled vinegar (5% acidity)
1 1/2 cups of Kosher salt
1 cup of sugar
20 small hot red Thai peppers, tops cut off
1/4 cup of mustard seeds
2 tsp. of ground turmeric
2 tbsp. of black peppercorns
10 large cloves of fresh garlic, sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons of food grade calcium chloride (optional) (Do not use more than 3/4 teaspoon per gallon of brine. Less is fine.)
Directions:
Pour two gallons of water into the bucket and add the quart of vinegar, one and one half cups of kosher salt, the sugar and the (optional) calcium chloride and mix well.
Cut 1/8th of an inch off the ends of each clean cucumber. Then slice them lengthwise into 1/4" thick slices. Put the cucumber slices into the bucket.
Add the seeded dill heads or fronds of dill to the bucket.
Peel and then cut the garlic cloves into thin slices and add them to the bucket.
Add the mustard seed, the turmeric, the hot peppers and the black peppercorns to the bucket and stir to mix.
Add enough water to bring the bucket contents (including the pickle slices) to about three gallons. The idea is to leave enough space above the brine and cucumbers for adding a dinner plate and some weights, such that you can still cover the bucket with it's lid. Stir the contents thoroughly.
Place a weighted plate on top of the cucumbers to force them down into the brine. I typically use a dinner plate and weigh it down with anything non-metallic, like plastic water bottles filled with water, tightly capped, or a stack of ceramic tiles.
Put the lid on the bucket to keep out foreign matter, insects, etc.
Ferment the pickles for about three weeks in a room that is 60ºF to 70º F. Try to avoid higher temperatures, though fermentation can be done slowly at lower temperatures, like 55ºF.
Check the fermentation progress every three days. Remove any mold that might form on the top of the brine with paper towels. Then mix the contents thoroughly. Replenish the brine if necessary to keep the liquid level above the cucumbers, using a mixture of 1/8 cup of kosher salt and 1/2 cup white distilled vinegar in one quart of water.
Check the pickles after two weeks by eating one. If it is pickled all the way through and tastes fairly intense and uniform in taste through the pickle then the fermentation process is completed. If the pickles need more fermentation time give them three more days and test them again. Repeat as necessary.
Process the completed pickles, garlic, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, hot peppers, dill and brine by canning them, or by vacuum sealing them and then pasteurizing them. If you can them immerse six sealed pint or quart canning jars of pickles into a large pot of boiling water with a dish towel or two inside the pot to cushion the bottoms of the jars during canning, or, use a canning pot specially made for that purpose. Repeat as necessary to process all the pickles.
Once the covered pot of water again comes to a boil after inserting the jars of pickles, let the boiling continue on low to medium heat gently for five minutes. Then the jars can be removed and allowed to cool and seal. Remember to retighten the lids when the jars are removed from the boiling water. It is not necessary to can the pickles in the boiling water for any extended period due to the concentration of vinegar and salt in the brine. Canning in boiling water for too long will make the pickles soft instead of crisp.
The alternative to canning is pasteurization at 160ºF for 30 minutes for the pickles and the brine if you vacuum seal the pickles. Refrigerate the pickles for up to a year. Or, you can simply bottle and refrigerate the pickles and use them within three months.
Enjoy … and I know you will.