Bread and Butter Pickles

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Yesterday, in the blazing heat...I made and canned pickles. Bread and butter pickle spears to be exact. I have a couple friends that would like to have the recipe. It is nothing that was handed down. It was something I had found a couple years ago. I had to give a canning demonstration and I wanted a couple things that I canned for people to sample. This one came out wonderfully as a pickle chip. The plate of pickles disappeared. I was so proud! So here I am..sharing another one from the vault. I hope you enjoy it.

Bread and Butter Pickles

Ingredients:

5 lbs of pickling cucumbers (for spears) or regular cucumbers for chips
3 red onions; sliced thinly
8 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/3 cup of canning salt
1 T of tumeric
2 t of celery salt
2 T mustard seed
5 cups of white vinegar
3 cups of white sugar

Directions:
**Get your water started in your water bath canner now. It will take some time to boil. Enough to completely cover the jars.**

I used pickling cucumbers this time around. They are the very small version of a regular cuke. I have used plain old ordinary cucumbers to make pickle chips though. So use either or. I had enough to fill 9 pint jars.

I usually use yellow onion in this recipe but for some reason I decided to use red onions sliced thinly. I also used a purple garlic. One clove peeled and dropped into each canning jar.
   But Wait! You have to clean those jars first. New lids, collars (inspect for rust or dents..throw away if so) and jars. I do not have a dishwasher but that is the quickest way to sterilize by running them through a cycle. Or you can wash, dry, and then boil for a bit in the canning pot like I do.

I cut the cukes into 8ths. If the cuke is on the small side then only in fourths. I piled them up in the biggest bowl I own. And this bowl is huge! The reason being is because we have to sweat them out a bit.

You add the 1/3 cup of salt to the cukes (i did half. piled some more on top and then the other half). Mix it well. Then cover them in ice cubes and plastic wrap. Put them out of the way in a cool place (if you can find one) and let sit for 3 hours.

After the three hours, you are going to drain them, rinse them, and drain them again. Wash all the salt away. This is what they will look like after their little spa treatment. Nice and pliable for the jars.

In this pot is the juice for your pickles. Place in the pot your sugar, turmeric, celery seed, mustard seed, and white vinegar. I used that much juice because I was doing 9 jars. If you are going to do less then change the amounts. If you are going to do more jars, add more.  It is a very forgiving recipe that way. Let this come to a boil and stir occasionally.  When it does boil, turn down to a slow simmer until you are ready. Oh by the way. TURMERIC STAINS! So do not wear anything you love when you do this recipe.

They smell amazing

At this point you want to start packing your jars. You want them to be tight but not so tight that you cant get a pickle out without them all coming out. They are going to shrink a bit so you want to have a good amount in each jar. If you find they are hanging over the top..you can trim them or just shove them down like I did. I placed one clove of garlic and a nice handful of sliced onion in each jar.  I do not put the juice in yet. I want to wait until the canner is boiling. That way these pickles can be as crisp as I like them.

You want to pour your pickle juice in your jars with a ladle and a funnel. There are special canning funnels that you can buy and they are inexpensive. Fill until you have half inch of head room at top of jar. Fill all of them up the same way. Wipe the outside rims of each jar to get them clean. Place your lid and twist on your collars tight. Then take your jars and put them in your canning rack (comes with the canner) and place in pot of water. Put the lid on and set the timer for 10 minutes. Do not start canning until you have a rolling boiling in that pot.

Yummy!

After the 10 minutes are up, use canning tongs to lift each jar out of the canner and onto a towel on your counter. You do not want the jars touching. I do not know why this is but that is what I was told and I do that.
You will start to hear the pop pop pop of the lids sealing. I had three of them that did not seal right away. I could push up and down on the lid. If that happens, they become refrigerator pickles. But give them a wait and see first. Because when I came downstairs this morning..this three were sealed. I think it was cause of all the heat and humidity.

And there you have it. Now you can successfully can your own pickles.

It is expensive when you first start out canning. I spent maybe $100 on all my supplies and that was 10 years ago. I have a water bath canner, a pressure canner, and all the utensils that are needed so you do not burn yourself. Then the jars, lids and collars. Jars and collars can be used over and over but you have to inspect them. If a jar has a crack or a collar has some rust..toss them. Lids can only be used ONCE. That will be the thing you will have to buy every year and it is not that pricey.

Enjoy! and let me know if you tried it.