DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a recipe or how to guide for canning or pickling, just a post about my first time..and all you seasoned canners out there, please don't laugh too hard at me for this post :)
I am feeling very clever right now...Maybe a little too much so considering how long this process has been around...but we just made our very first batch of Bread and Butter Pickles from our own home grown cucumbers....This is not just our first batch of pickles but our first time canning ever...
I am feeling very clever right now...Maybe a little too much so considering how long this process has been around...but we just made our very first batch of Bread and Butter Pickles from our own home grown cucumbers....This is not just our first batch of pickles but our first time canning ever...
Look at that big lovely batch of cucumbers...Oh and the pretty red tomatoes on the window sill were picked out of the garden today as well...
Simmering our jars to warm them up, lids and bands in the small pan in back..Black stock pot is for the water bath..Had to wait for the jars to be done to start the pickling liquid in another pot...For the first time in my life I understand why ppl want 6 burners on their home stove..
We got so wrapped up in the process I forgot to take photos of the mountain of sliced cucumbers...Here they are lined up to get the liquid added...
The first 2 jars to go into the water bath...Why 2 jars, because these are the smaller pint jars and only need 5 minutes...The rest are quarts and require 10minutes...
"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble."
Ta-Daaaaaaa...9 jars of yummy yummy (I hope) Bread and Butter Pickles...Note the bottom of the jars are all just liquid...I thought I had stuffed those jars really full of sliced cucumber, but when the hot liquid hit them they wilted and that created more space for the liquid...Next time I will do half the liquid then stuff more slices in the top after they have wilted some...
that is UNLESS someone has any advice for me on this matter?
Can't wait to taste them tomorrow night...
Blessings Kelsie
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6 comments:
Way exciting!! I love bread and butter pickles...don't you just love to hear the pop of the jars sealing?
Fantastic! I only started canning when we moved to Red Gate Farm 6 1/2 years ago. I like the creative part of it and I love to look at all those filled up jars when I'm done! It's such a great feeling of accomplishment!
Congrats on your first try. If you'd like a great book to try get the "Ball Blue Book of Preserving"... it's kind of like a canner's bible :) and it also has freezing and dehydrating recipes.
~Chris
YOU GO GIRL!!! I knew you could do it, and I promise, you won't be sorry you did. I am gonna get that recipe together that I was telling you about and e-mail ya. It is soooo simple, no baths or anything to do. You do not even have to seal them! We just got home last night, so I have a bunch to do, but I will get the recipe to ya to try. Hubby LOVES them.
All my Grandma's pickles floated like that. I think it's very normal and how they SHOULD look! Great work Kels! I'm so jealous about your harvest! The bean plants here that survived the squirrel mob are just at two leaves.
Looks good! I agree the Ball Blue Book is required reading if you are going to can. You can really push those cucumber slices down and pack them as hard as you can.
I made some pickles this past weekend that you don't have to process. They are called Refrigerator Pickles. I found the recipe on the blog A Way To Garden. Tonight I tried another recipe that was long and involved. I'm doing Lime Cucumbers. They are sitting in a solution right now and I have to process them in the morning. I would be interested in your bread and butter pickle recipe.
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