This post comes to you courtesy of my husband who’s been having a ball in the kitchen learning how to properly can his own pickles. We are overflowing with cucumbers so I’m glad Brandon is so into this! He took pictures of this whole ordeal and shared the recipes that served as his inspiration.
We’ll be cracking into them in September, but I have a hunch they are going to be great! (They better be great because we’ve already started giving them away to friends and family…ha.)
The following recipe comes to you word for word from a friend and co worker of Brandon’s.
Jar prep/Tips for canning…
- Wash and sterilize jars (usually keep in sink submerged in hot water until everything goes in and solution). If jars are cold when putting hot solution in or when you put in the canner, may make the jars crack.
- Put lids and seals in pan with very hot/boiling water.
- Heat the water in the canner. Leave about 3-4 inches from the top of the canner so it doesn’t overflow when jars are submerged.
- When filling the jars, leave about 1/4-1/2 inch free from the top.
- After filling, clean the rim of the jars from any liquid/debris.
Dill Pickles:
Prep:
Slice pickles (or leave whole) how you want, peel garlic cloves and wash dill sprigs, keeping only the portion with the seeds and smaller branches (do not need full stems).
In each jar:
- Dill sprigs (seeds ok)
- 1-4 garlic cloves depending on size of jar (1-2 pint, 3-4 quart or larger)
- Pickles (whole, sliced, or spears)
Solution:
- 3 quarts water
- 1 quart vinegar
- 1 cup canning salt
- 1 T. Alum
Boil the solution and pour into each jar with pickles, dill and garlic. Fill to about 1/4 from the top. Wipe excess liquid from around the rims, place seals and lids on jars, tighten and place in canner. Once canner is filled, boil (with lid) for 15 minutes. Remove jars from canner and place on counter (on towel) to cool and seal, you’ll hear a “pop” when the jar has sealed (or is not flexible when touching the top). Tighten the lids and store for a minimum of 6 weeks before using.
Bread ‘n Butter Pickles:
- 3 quarts sliced pickles
- 6 medium onions, sliced
- 4 peppers (3 green, 1 red) sliced
Slice vegetables and put in a large plastic bowl/pan and sprinkle with 4 T salt. Let stand for 3 hours. Drain and rinse.
Solution:
- 1 quart cider vinegar
- 1 T mustard seed
- 1 T turmeric
- 1/2 t celery salt
- 2-1/2 cups sugar
Hear to boiling, add drained vegetables and just heat (not to state of boiling), then put into hot sterilized jars and seal. Put aside to cool.
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The next recipe comes from Emeril himself and you can find it here.
These are Brandon’s 3 “experiment” variations:
#1
- apple cider vinegar
- water
- sugar
- coarse sea salt
- crushed red pepper flake
- garlic
- black pepper corns
- dill
- whole jalapeno peppers
#2
- white vinegar
- water
- sugar
- coarse sea salt
- crushed red pepper flake
- garlic
- black pepper corns
- dill
- chives
- italian parsley
- banana peppers
- sweet green frying peppers
#3
- white vinegar
- water
- coarse sea salt
- garlic
- dill
- chives
- white onion
Most of the herbs and all of the peppers also came from our garden which was pretty cool too. You can definitely add and delete whatever flavor elements sound good to you and your family without compromising the end result.
*If you have any questions for B about all of this pickle business leave them in the comments section of this post and I’ll have him answer them as quickly as possible.*
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And just in case you need a daily dose of cuteness…
Yes, I’m obsessed with Instagram.
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