Pickling time - Zesty bread and butter pickles

by - 1:47 PM

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My mother has been making lots of pickles so one day last week I went to see what she was doing. Actually it want more like “Don’t do another thing until I get my camera out.”

 

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She had a bunch of pickling cucumber sliced up sitting on the counter.

 

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In a pot she had the pickling liquid ready.

 

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in another pot the jars were boiling or nearly boiling . 

 

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She got out the hot jars to drain.

 

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She then laid the cucumber slices in the jar.

 

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She said slicing them long ways is much easier to pack in. 

 

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To get as many slices in as possible she uses a butter knife to make more room 

 

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and slides more slices down the side of the jar.

 

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She tops each jar with sliced onions. Whatever’s on the top gets soggy and mushy over time so it might as well be a few onion slices instead of the ends on every cucumber slice.

 

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She then pours the hot pickling liquid over the cucumbers and onions

 

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until they are full, all the way to the top.

 

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She wipes off any stickiness and put the lids and bands on.

 

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Then it’s bath time! Into the hot water they go

 

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for 10 minutes.

 

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All done. Zesty bread and butter pickles.

 

Zesty bread and butter pickles

Cucumber preparation

  • 6 cups sliced cucumbers
  • 1 Tbsp sea salt
  • 2-3 cups water to cover

In a bowl add cucumbers, salt and water, mix and let sit overnight.

Pickling liquid

  • 3 cups white vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/4 cup pickling spice
  • 1 Tbsp prepared horse radish mustard
  • 1 Tbsp celery seeds
  • 1 Tbsp turmeric
  • 2 Tbsp ground ginger

In a pot add vinegar, sugar, pickling spice, horseradish, celery seeds, turmeric, and ginger; simmer 5 minutes stir occasionally.

Meanwhile

prepare canner jars and lids.

Drain and rinse cucumbers several times.

 

Remove jars from hot water, keep lids in a bowl of warm water till you’re ready for them

Filling the jars

  • a slice of fresh ginger per jar
  • 1 onion peeled and sliced

place ginger slices in bottoms of jars,

Then pack cucumbers into jars tightly, pushing them aside gently with a butterknife to make more room, leaving some headspace –choose your cucumbers accordingly so they don’t stick up too far; then cover with onion slices, allowing about 1/2 inch final  headspace;

ladle hot pickling liquid into jars;

wipe rims  of jars, cover with lid, screw on bands fingertight

place jars in canner

bring to boil and process for 10 minutes

 


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2 comments

  1. The experimental cookJuly 12, 2012 at 12:50 AM

    I've never done pickling this way, with the heating and stuff. This is definitely a safer way to go. How long do I pickle before it is good to be eaten ?

    ReplyDelete
  2.  I'm not really sure I'll have to ask her. Since they keep on the shelf, for 7 or 8 months before they start getting mushy we've always eaten refrigerator pickles during cucumber season and get to the canned pickles later in the fall.

    ReplyDelete

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