I really enjoyed making these pickles and they all are Delicious.  So much better than anything you can buy at a store.  My husband takes them to work and the guys love them!  Each of the pickle recipes contain 2 pounds of pickling cucumbers cut into chips with blossom end cut discarded.  Add in the accent vegetables and degorge each bowl with 2 T of Canning/pickling salt.  Wait 2 -3 hours and drain out all the water you have extracted with the salt.  Add in to each jar 1/8 t of the pickle crisp.  Load the cucumber mixes into the jars being careful to remember which one is which if you are making different ones.  Steep your desired pickling liquid or liquids and then pour over the cucumbers.  With a butter knife or skewer move the cucumbers around to make sure there are no air pockets and the jar is full of the liquid with only a 1/4 inch head space at the top.  Put on your lids but not too taut.  If you tighten them too much air will not be able to escape and they will not be able to create the suction to vacuum seal tightly.  Place them in a large pot of water that is 180 – 185 Degrees and let them simmer there for 30 Minutes with at least 1 inch of water covering the top of the jars. Make sure all jars are upright and if you have a rack for them to sit on that is best.  I have never used one and I haven’t had any issues.  You may just need to make sure it is a heavy bottomed durable pot if you don’t have a rack to slightly elevate them.  Remove the jars with canning jar lifter and place on tea towel to dry and cool.  If you have well water definitely dry the top of the lids as your water may leave water spots on the lids.  Also all recipes call for filtered water for the brines.  You don’t need filtered water for the water bath unless your water has a lot of sediment in it.  Sometimes well water can even leave a gritty residue on the jars but you can clean this off usually with a warm wet cloth.  Once the jars start cooling they may start making some noise and that just means the lids are sealing.  After 24 hours check lids for proper sealing.  They should be concave and not bulging.  Also when you press on the seal it should not be able to move. These are the basic directions for making pickles. The specific details for Each Recipe is listed below.

Bread and Butter Pickles
(Accompanying Vegetables…White Onion, Red Bell Pepper, Sweet Mini Peppers)
(Liquid Brine…1 C Rice Wine Vinegar, 2 C Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 C Filtered Water, 2 C Sugar, 1/2 t Celery Seed, 1 t Mustard Seeds, 1 t Turmeric, 1/4 t Clove, 1/2 t Ground Coriander and Fresh Picked Dill Sprigs)
Add Drained Cucumber Mix to Jar then cover with Brine.

Dill Pickles
(Accompanying Vegetables…Red Onion) Add Garlic Cloves after degorging.
(Liquid Brine…1 C White Vinegar, 1 C Apple Cider Vinegar, 2 C Filtered Water, 1/2 t Celery Seed, 1/2 t Ground Coriander, 1 t Mustard Seed, 1/2 t Dried Mustard, 2 t pink peppercorns and 3 or so Bay Leaves)
Add in Garlic Cloves and Fresh Dill with Cucumbers then cover with Brine.

Spicy Pickles
(Accompanying Vegetables…Desired Hot Peppers: deseeded or mostly deseeded depending on heat preference, I used Hot Banana Peppers and Jalapeno Pepper, Sweet peppers, Red Onion, Red Pepper, & Celery) Add Garlic Cloves after Degorging.
(Liquid Brine…1 C White Vinegar, 1 C Apple Cider Vinegar, 2 C Filtered Water, 1 T Chile Flakes, 1/2 t turmeric and 3 or so Bay Leaves)
Add in Garlic Cloves and Fresh Dill with Cucumbers then cover with Brine.

Zucchini and Pepper Relish
4 Cups of Mixed Bell Peppers Small Diced
Accompanying vegetables…Garlic, Onion, Celery, Fresh Dill and Basil
3 Medium Zucchini Small Diced
Start by sauteing 1/2 of a Diced Red Onion, 3 Ribs Diced Celery and 2 cloves chopped Garlic in a large shallow pot. Season with salt, pepper, Celery Seed, Ground Coriander and Paprika. Then add in Diced Bell Peppers and continue to saute for a couple more minutes before adding in the zucchini. Season again with salt and pepper. Add in Fresh Herbs then
add in your brining liquid (1 1/4 Cup of Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 C Red Wine Vinegar, 1 C Filtered Water, 3/4 Cup of Sugar) and simmer for 20 minutes. The Relish is ready to Jar.

Post Tags