Bread and Butter Pickles

Tis the season for all things beans and pickles!

This is only my second year gardening, pickling, and canning, so I am definitely still learning. Last year's canning experience yielded some awesome results right alongside many epic fails. And this year, we've already had a few of both, as well.

Last year, the texture of my dilly beans was right on, but the taste was wretched. Only my brother and one of my dearest friends said that they liked them all right...but that's what friends and family are supposed to say, right? They tasted like a McDonald's Big Mac, and you could only eat one or two at a time before your mouth puckered up like an old lady! Nasty little buggers.

This year, we tried again. The taste was right on, however the recipe that I was reading called for a ten minute hot water bath - which my Mama taught me that you don't ever do with pickles - because they actually get cooked a bit and they lose their crunch. Very controversial amongst old timer cooks and newer recipe books. Old timers say that with everything super hot going into the jars (which are also boiling) along with the massive amounts of vinegar used, there is no need to worry about botulism spores or whatever the germs you hot water bath to get rid of. As long as they seal, you're good. Each to his own, but I always forego this step, and I forgot this time. Although the taste is exactly what I was going for...the floppiness is not.

Ah well. Third time will be a charm, methinks.
Anyway, now we move on to the cukes and Bread and Butter pickles - our all time favorite "side of your plate with any meal" kind of a pickle.

Easy sneezy, and super delish.
Start with a bucket of the smallest cukes you can find:

For about 9 pints of pickles, you will need approximately 16-18 heaping cups of small cukes sliced about 1/4 inch and 6 onions sliced into little rings.

This can be a two day event if need be, which I always find helpful with little hoolies running all around. Once you slice all of your veggies, you will sprinkle 1/3 cup of pickling salt all over them, and just mix them around really gently with your hands.

Put them in a big container, like a cooler - or I've even used my sink in the past - and completely cover everything with crushed ice. Let this sit for 3-4 hours or overnight. I've always let it set overnight. Either would be fine.

After appropriate time has passed, drain everything, but DO NOT rinse them off.

Take a ginormous pot (with a wire under it to prevent burning) and heat all of these ingredients to boiling:
3 cups cider vinegar
5 cups white sugar (I know. Yikes).
1/2 tsp. tumeric
1 tsp. celery seed
2 TBlsp. mustard seed

As soon as these ingredients boil, dump in the drained onions and cukes.

Use a tall wooden spoon to stir the cukes, and bring everything back to the boiling point. As soon as the veggies start to boil, turn the burner down to medium. You want everything kept hot but not at a full boil.

You will also see that the color of the cukes has changed from that super bright green to a more pickle looking green.

Take hot, sterilized jars (out from another pot of boiling water, along with hot sterilized lids and covers). Use a slotted spoon to pack down veggies only up to about 3/4 of the jar. Put in some juice, add more veggies up to the neck of the jar and pack down. Add more juice. All cukes must be under the juice.

Leave 1/2 space.
Use a spatula to get the bubbles out - just bob it up and down around the sides of the jars.

Screw the lids on tight, wipe your jars down, and set them on your counter to settle.

Wait expectantly for the happy sounds of jar lids popping declaring they've sealed!

With any juice left over, you can hard boil some eggs, and just throw them in the juice and put them in your fridge to eat whenever. Good times. Good times.

*******************
1702. The gift of my garden's bounty.
1703. Making my Mama's pickles.
1704. Hearing the happy sounds of lids popping.
1705. Seeing my shelves filling up once again.