Spicy Dill Carrot Pickle Slices

Recently, I purchased a 25 pound bag of carrots.  I just couldn't turn down the great price.  It was $2 for a 5 pound bag of carrots, or $7 for 25 pounds!  Of course, after I got home with my ginormous bag of carrots I realized I needed to figure out how to USE 25 pounds of carrots.  On my list of todo's was to pickle some.
Now, I love nice crisp dill pickles.  I have made pickled green beans and pickled asparagus in the past.  I used a recipe a friend gave me, but it was a sweeter recipe.  No one in my family likes sweet pickles.  I still have 2 jars of pickled green beans up in my cupboard 5 years later because no one will eat them.  I wasn't going to make that mistake again!

Here is the recipe that I was inspired by.  A nice sounding spicy dill with NO sweetener.  Of course, I can't leave well enough alone and I had to increase the garlic, reduce the hot peppers, and change all the proportions and instructions.

Here is my recipe.  I'll let you know in a couple of weeks how they turned out!

Spicy Dill Carrot Pickle Slices

Makes 5 quarts

1 9x13 baking dish full of sliced carrots
30 cloves garlic
8 cups vinegar
8 teaspoons dried dill
3 cups water
½ cup salt
3 teaspoons red pepper flakes

Put vinegar, water, dill, salt, and pepper flakes in nonreactive pan and bring to a boil.

In the bottom of each (hot and sterilized) quart jar, slice 3 cloves of garlic.  Fill jars packed with carrot slices up to one inch from the top.  Slice remaining garlic on top of carrots (3 cloves in each jar). 

Fill with pickling fluid, leaving 1 inch headspace.  Put on the lids and rings.

Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. 

After jars have cooled, check to make sure they sealed correctly.

Let jars sit for at least a week to let the carrots really pickle.

Okay, I let them sit for two weeks. Oh My Goodness!  These were a hit.  Nice dill flavor, a little spice  but not too much, and a great garlic undertone.  So yummy!  I'll definitely make these again.