Usually for dilly beans you would want to wait at least 2 weeks before opening a jar. If you refrigerate the processed jar, the beans will not absorb as much vinegar and dill flavor for a longer time. Be patient, as it does taste much better after a couple of weeks of storage at room temps. I do hope you TASTED the dilly bean pickling brine before adding it to the jars!

Thank you for asking this question. I was about to do a search (yes a search before asking a question)regarding the dilly's when I found this one near the top. I am on my way out to the store and thought I should ask how long I have to wait, or if I have to wait.

Oh yes, and I also see to taste the brine before. But what am I tasting for...sweetness, sourness, tartness, dillyness...? What if I don't like it, can I doctor it a bit with??? I understand the vinegar is needed, but I also understand cider vinegar...wait, too many questions huh? I have put the cart before the horse...I just love learning.

Thanks again,
Teri

What you are tasting for Teri is does it taste like you want the pickles or beans to taste? Does it need more salt, less salt (dilute it more), more garlic, less garlic (remove some, a bit of sugar perhaps, a smidge more dill, etc.? If it's ok then go with it keeping in mind that it will get stronger over time.

White vinegar is a sharp acid taste, cider vinegar is more mellow, softer, a bit sweeter....depending on your taste buds.

Dave

Oh dear, I did not taste! I followed the recipe to a T. I used apple cider vinegar. I think I will go open one and see what I have done to my beans. Thanks everyone for the advice.

Yummy yum yum, and they are not even ready yet. I think they will be almost perfect in a couple weeks. The only change I will make is more hot pepper,(I used a very small piece of a firecracker chili)and cut salt back just a bit. I have to go find more beans and make another batch. Love this site, and all the great posters!

Some people can a brine without tasting, and find it way to sweet or salty. Your wanting a flavor like that of a brine in a store bought pickle, or enhance the specific flavor by adding more herbs or spices. A good example is adding some dried dill seeds to a vinegar salt brine, and finding out later that the dill taste is barely noticable. Had the brine been tasted before it was canned, you could easily adjust the spices. Not everyone has the same taste in mind. Try pickling yellow wax beans too.

I have yellow, and purple beans in the garden. I wonder if I do them together if they will hold there color. They would look so pretty as gifts. Has any one tried this? Ksrogers, I think I lucked out. The brine is very similar to that of a store bought pickle. Next time I will know to taste. Beginners mistake. This was my first try at a pickle. Oh well, live and learn.

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I went to the store last night and bought my dill. The recipe calls for 8-12 heads of dill, but I now realize that there is no way a bunch of dill is equal to a head of dill. I am assembling my jars for the beans and I realize that I have nooooo idea how much a head is??? How much dill do I put in??? Pleas say it in like strands or stalks or????

Well, a head is the 'bloom' on a dill plant. Don't know what your bunch looks like, you could have several heads in your bunch. I haven't seen your recipe but I assume you are suppose to put the head in the bottom of the jar. This year my leaves (you call strands) were much more flavorful than the heads, so if you don't want to go back to the store, I would chop some of the leaves and go by taste, a tbs. of really good dill can go along way. Taste it. Next year try growing your own so then you can go and pick as many as you need. I love 'shopping' in my own back yard. Easy to grow. And I am learning to look at the recipes I want to try before I go shopping so I can make sure I get enough of all ingreidients. Maybe others will have a better answer for you. Ken grows lots of dill and makes lots of pickles.

Purple bean varieties turn green when cooked. ;)

As gardener1908 said - a "head" is the full bloom. They come in all sorts of sizes so it is a to-taste thing. Many prefer the dill flavor obtained from the leaves or seeds over the head flavor. All parts of the dill plant work but the flavor changes depending on the part of the plant you use.

Another way to make these is to just buy a package of Mrs. Wages Dill Pickle mix and use it. It is sold by the canning supplies and comes in Kosher (with garlic) or plain.

Dave

Ok, well I have put "up" a batch. Since I have never grow dill I am not sure what is meant by a head or a full bloom so I will use a tree as a comparison. I bought a bunch of dill that was banded together and in that bunch were lots of little trees. Each tree trunk (stalk) had branches and on each branch were leaves. So is a head the whole tree or stalk of dill? I understand that the flavor is mostly in the leaves and branches, but are you saying that the trunk of the tree is not necessary. I did smell the dill in the store and that helped me narrow down the bunches.

And yes, I did taste the brine before I added it to the beans.... I think I am on to something...time to go peel the roasted tomatoes before the temp soars to over 100 degrees.
Thanks,
Teri

Just Google pictures of dill - all sorts of info is readily available on it. One picture of dill is linked below . The heads are the yellow blooms.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dill

Dill 'HEADS ar usually the seeds, and they are most flavorful when picked at the swelled green stage. The weed has a slightly different taste. The purple beans will lose their color and it settles to the bottom once canned, as mentioned in another recent string bean thread. It makes for an odd looking jar if shaken. Mrs. Wages now offers a dilly bean pickle mix, specially made for doing beans. Its similar to their regular dill mix, but with less color.

Ok, by the picture on that link, I understand what you mean by the bloom, but I must have the southern CA version, because that looks nothing like my dill. I have a link to what my dill, bought from the store, looks like. Now realize that the dill is laying down, but there is no bloom. Anyway, from my reading, I think I bought enough dill to make pickles for all of southern CA for a year. I will try to freeze some.

Here is the link to what my dill looks like

Here is a link that might be useful: dill laying down

Dill has two parts. The ferny leaves which are called DILL WEED. The flower and subsequent seed heads are sprays of seeds that form after it flowers tiny yellow flowers. The dill seeds have stems attached and when fully ripe turn tan color. What you have a photo of is the dill WEED and is also used in making dill pickles. The dill I grow is mammoth, and can grow over 6 foot tall. The dill leaves (weed) are on small branches below the seed heads. Mine will produce many seeds and after a few windy days they drop off and plant themselves to sprout the following year. For dill weed, I usually add about 6 or more stems per quart jar, and more if I have it. Once the seeds ripen to tan color, the leaves (fern) will yellow and then die out. Sometimes the dill weed is also called baby dill. The HERBS forum here shows many links to dill info. Dill goes great with garlic. A couple of years ago, I picked a lot of dill weed and dried it. Then crumbled, and placed in a canning jar and a lid was placed on. I used the Food Saver jar attachment to pull a vacuum on the jar and my dill weed is nearly as fresh tasting an smelling as freshly dried, even after two years. I use it in making cold pasta and potato salads, as well as in some tomato based sauces. You would probab ly not find mich frsh dill seed heads in stores as its a bit hard to package, as the head sprays tend to tangle easily with each other. Attempting to pull apart, the seeds will fall off the sprays. Photo below shows immature dill, t teh yellow flowering stage. Right now, all is tan color and dead.

{{gwi:904919}}

Yeah you bought what is called fern-leaf dill - no heads just the leaves (weed). It will work too, I'd just use 1 cluster of branches of it in each jar as they are stronger than the heads so less is needed. When you open the jars if it isn't strong enough dill flavor you can always add more.

For future ref - trying to buy dill heads can be difficult as they have a very limited season. So as already mentioned if you are going to can things that call for dill heads it is best to grow your own. That is what most of us do. ;)

Dave

Ken,
Thank you for that very in-depth and informative explanation about dill. I better understand about dill and the parts of it. I used about 3-4 stems of weeds in each jar along with a piece of garlic. I had sooo much extra dill that I am currently trying to dry it. A friend suggested putting the dill in a paper bag and putting it outside. Here in Southern CA our temps are currently in the upper 90Âs-100 and it is a dry heat. Currently I have a wild fire a few miles from me, so to protect the dill, I have put it in a paper bag, inside of my BBQ, outside. I will shake the bag to move the dill around every few hours. Once it is completely dry, I will also put it in a jar and use my food saver to suck out the air....Oh I find this very exciting...

I am looking forward to tasting these dilly bean beauties in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for the positive comments and support.

Teri

Fresh dill is my new favorite herb. I loved it fresh from the garden like Ken said in potatoe salad. My whole famliy loves my "basic' potatoe salad. but this year I made a lot of it with redskins, mayo, sour cream, s&p and fresh dill. Very good. I am getting ready to try to grow another batch in my hoophouse before it gets too cold and hope it works, if not I will try your suggestion Ken with the foodsaver next year as my dill is all pretty much seed now.

I haven't grown dill for a few years, so for my dilly beans I use 1-2 sprigs of dill (by sprigs I mean the pieces as they're cut for sale in plastic packets or in bunches) AND maybe half a teaspoon of dill seeds. I like my dilly beans extra dilly, it gives them that to-die-for flavor that makes them really satisfying to me.

Melissa

Dilly beans are really strong dill when you use a Mrs. Wages dill pickle mix instead of just plain pickling salt, and you add the extra dill weed and fresh dill seed heads. I like mine really dill flavored, and with the pickle mix alone, its quite good.

To dry dill weed, its best to use a dehydrator. The quicker it dries, the more color and flavor is retained. Once the dill weed is dry, it crumbles in your hands very easily. As mentioned, I store mine in canning jars and use the Food Saver jar attachment to pull a vacuum on the jar. This really helps keep the dill flavor and color. Mine is 2 years old now and is still bright green and has that distict dill taste.

When my mom made potato salad, she would add some dill pickles chopped up, and also celery and onions. Most of the time she found it lacking something. That 'something' was dry mustard powder. A little added to the mayo and potato salad makes it really flavorful.

I am new to canning and this site. Please excuse me if I am asking questions that have been posted somewhere already. Yesterday, I canned pickles for the second time. So far...they look fabulous. We'll see in a few weeks when I try them. I'd also like to make Dilly Beans, but I don't have a recipe. Would someone please share their favorite one with me? I also have Patriot Blueberries frozen and would love to try and can blueberry jam. I saw a link for blueberry/lime and I'll try that. If some of you have other recipes for jam, I'd love them. I marvel at how talented all of you are and hope to learn from you! Thanks for helping a newbie!
Biggy

biggy, if you have a Ball Blue Book, this recipe is in there and it's the one I've always used:

Dilly Beans

2 lbs. trimmed green beans
4 heads dill
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp. cayenne pepper (I like to use red pepper flakes instead)
2-1/2 cups vinegar
2-1/2 cups water
1/4 cup canning salt (don't substitute regular salt, this is chemistry!)

Pack beans lengthwise into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. To each pint, add 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, 1 clove garlic and 1 head dill. Combine remaining ingredients in a large sauce pot (non-reactive, like an enamel or glass pot). Bring to a boil. Pour hot liquid over beans, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Adjust caps. Process pints and quarts 10 minutes in boiling water bath.

Yield: about 4 pints.

happy Canning.

Annie

So what happens if you use regular non iodized salt instead of canning salt? The first batch I made I didn't have canning, so used regular non-iodized salt.

renny, different salts measure differently, so if a recipe calls for canning salt and you use kosher salt in the same measurements, without weighing it, you'll get less salt. The crystals are bigger in kosher salt, and take up more room in the cup.

However, I think if you used regular salt, you should be fine, the differences are not that big. Kosher salt or sea salt might throw off the balance enough to skew the recipe for the brine, though.

Plus, you might still get some sediment in the bottom of your jars, because your regular salt probably still has the anti-caking ingredients that cause sediment, where canning salt doesn't.

Annie

I have a recipe that’s been handed down for years and the dilly beans turn out excellent every time. My family and friends rave about them.

You do not have to use fresh dill. I always double the garlic as my family loves them. I may also add a jalapeño in a couple of my jars for those who like more heat. I typically wait close to 3 months before cracking open a jar as this is what our family recipe stated.

I don’t like the taste of my silly beans can I dump the brine and rinse them and start the process all over with a new brine?