Wish me luck - Canning pickles

I bought 12 pint canning jars last night and am going to make bread-and-butter pickles today. I have my cucumbers and onions sliced and am letting them sit in the salt solution now. The jars are in the dishwasher, so they'll be hot for the pickles and I'll pour boiling water over the lids and bands. This pickle recipe does not call for the hot water canning bath.

I can remember helping my mother and Grandma can veggies, but I've never done it by myself. Talked to Mom yesterday and my MIL this morning and they gave me a good pep talk. So I guess I'm ready.

If it works, I'll try other recipes for pickles (I'm such a pickle-hound, it's not funny. Love, love my pickles.). And maybe, maybe, I'll get brave and try to actually can something in the canning bath.

My MIL has offered me her canning supplies. Actually she wanted me to have the things years ago, but I didn't want to can anything. She saved everything. She told me this morning that she knew it would only be a matter of time before I'd get interested enough to try it and she wanted me to use her things. She's a sweetie.

The idea of having our own veggies this winter is fascinating to us. We have the freezer and I do freeze things, but well, I guess it's time to try to can.

Please wish me luck! I'm really nervous!

Good luck! I love pickles!
(I've recently gained a strange addiction to Frickles)

All the best!!! Am sure they'll be great

Good luck!!!!! My parents really love canning things and if I still lived with them I'd read them your post and make them tell you all of the things to expect. I'm sure it will go well and you will have loads of pickles to enjoy!!!

I wish you all the luck in the world even though I'm sure you won't need it

I'm sure they will turn out AWESOME!

Well awesome for you, yucky for me, BLAH....hahaha.

.....................and what the heck's a frickle??? hahaha.

Originally Posted by Momto3boys

.....................and what the heck's a frickle??? hahaha.

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I'm guessing fried pickle??? I'm from the South and all, but...

Frickle??? I'm curious...you have to tell us what a frickle is! I'm thinking fried pickle, too. At one of our local fairs, somebody sells battered deep-fat fried dill pickles. I haven't had the courage to try them. They also sell battered deep-fat fried Oreo cookies.....somehow that just seems wrong. LOL

So my pickles are done and in their jars. I ended up with three pints of pickles for one recipe. I'm going to do two more batches, but I'm going to wait til tonight when it's a little cooler. We have the kitchen AC running and it's blowing steam into the air because the kitchen is so warm.

I was really careful to keep everything as sterile as I could, so I hope I don't kill anybody with the pickles.

They are really good! I have a little bowl of them chilling in the fridge for dinner tonight.

Thanks for the and the It was fun!

ETA: Two of my jars popped! What a neat sound! I was talking to DH on my cell phone in the kitchen and I heard the first one pop. Then the second pop just a few seconds later. Still waiting on the third jar. The popping means that the jars sealed properly. Cool!

Oh, and parsleysage? I'd love to get tips from your parents!

WOOOOOOOOOOOT, I'm so glad it was a success

I would love the popping sound as well

Fried pickles, tomatoes and now oreos.....it all has an ewwww factor

They sound gross but they are really delicious!
The cajun seasoning and crispy cornmeal batter make the crunchy, tart, sweet pickle inside sing!~

(I'm from NY so the only place that has them is Hooter's! They serve them with chipotle mayo! Imagine a young Asian-looking woman going to Hooter's to eat fried pickles. I get laughed at all the time but it's all in good fun.)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/fried-pickles/detail.aspx

Some people do them in spears...


Hooter's does them like this!

I've done canning a few times. And I grew up helping my Mom.

Once the jars are sealed and cool, make sure you remove the ring bands from the jars leaving only the sealed round disc.

Replace the ring band only after you have unsealed the jar.

One year I did:

Dill pickles
Sweet mixed pickles
Marmalade
Strawberry Jam
Green Pepper Jelly (sooooo good!!)
Apply Jelly
Watermelon rind pickles (I didn't like them so I took them to work and gave them away)
Amaretto pears

I'm sure they will turn out great! I love, love, love pickles!! Some days I swear I could eat nothing but pickles all day long. And those frickles look amazingly delicious.

Ooh I love pickles too!! Trader Joe's kosher dills are my favorite. I get a jar almost everytime I go, just to make sure I don't run out. Sometimes we get fried pickles at Beachwood BBQ, but not often, since they're pretty greasy with all that yummy batter.

I got a canning book from the library a few months ago, and it doesn't seem too too difficult really. Except a lot of the recipes need the pressure canning, rather than just the regular canning bath or whatever. But I think the high acid stuff is ok with the regular hot bath. I forget. I am trying to grow pickling cucumbers right now actually, my plants are growing SO SLOWLY. They're only a few inches big and already have some flowers, so who knows what will happen.

Originally Posted by Mystik Spiral

And those frickles look amazingly delicious.

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Yeah, they really don't look too bad... I'll have to give them another shot.

DH is the one who does the canning around here, but today he informed me that he's going to leave the rest of the cucumbers to me to do (we have tons of them), so I've been looking at recipes for Bread and Butter and Kosher Dills.

I love bread and butter pickles but I've never found any in the store that topped my grandma's canned ones. My mom and grandma used to can a lot when I was little, and I was thinking about trying it. Pickles, green beans, stewed tomatoes, grape jelly, apple jelly were what they did the most. I just remember the kitchen being so hot in the middle of summer I had to go outside to cool off! If I have a decent groundhog-proof garden next year I'm going to take the plunge and try it.

Wow!!!!! You are just amazing and is there nothing you can't do??? You are our Martha Stewart of TCS I enjoy your threads!! Let us know how it goes

Pickles are one of the easiest things to can! I used to make them myself, for DH. You'll do fine!!!

I love that popping sound, too! Unlike some other canners here, I always leave the bands on; I've done this for years,with no problems--actually, I think most canners do. Some remove them, but I never bothered--I like what they look like, and they are easier to grab in the pantry.

I remember the first time I canned--I was so sure I'd give us botulism--hasn't happened yet! Just relax, follow the instructions to a "t", and don't substitute ingredients or change ingredient amounts. Observe very sanitary canning practices, and take your time. It quickly becomes second nature.

Last week, I canned peaches (hot water bath), and, for the first time, a jar bottom broke off in the canner. I threw it out, checked the other jars, and they are fine. (Tip: if you make too much sugar syrup for fruit while canning, strain some out, and use 1-2 TBL in iced tea or iced water--like a syrup, or over ice cream. I did this with the peach syrup. Yumm!!)

As Acme has a good bell pepper sale this week, I was going to can pepper relish today, but conveniently forgot (it's hot as Hades here--over 100 F, and I just didn't want to leave the a/c!).

I have some "lazy man" pickles in my fridge. When I buy pickles, I don't throw out the pickle juice when I'm done. I sometimes use some in soups or sauces to give a bit of zing. But mostly I keep it in order to make my own pickles.

I just slice up some cucumbers and put them into the juice and keep them in the fridge for a few weeks until they take on a nice pickled flavour. I have 3 jars pickling.

No heating or cooking necessary.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I have some "lazy man" pickles in my fridge. When I buy pickles, I don't throw out the pickle juice when I'm done. I sometimes use some in soups or sauces to give a bit of zing. But mostly I keep it in order to make my own pickles.

I just slice up some cucumbers and put them into the juice and keep them in the fridge for a few weeks until they take on a nice pickled flavour. I have 3 jars pickling.

No heating or cooking necessary.

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That is brilliant. I like the way you think lol