Getting ready to make more pickles...

[Melensdad]

Pulled a 5 gallon bucket of goodies out of the garden today. I make a concoction of "Mixed Sweet Pickles & Veggies" that sort of varies with what comes out of the garden when we are ready to do some canning. Typically its some combination of pickles, peppers, onions and cauliflower. I don't have any onions ready to can so this batch won't have onions inside them. But I have some purple cauliflower and some golden yellow cauliflower in addition to traditional white cauliflower so those will add some color to the jars. And I love sweet pickled cauliflower!

Pickles are still dirty and sitting in a pile. Probably have a 5 gallon bucket of those.

But I have white, yellow and purple Cauliflower heads that are cleaned up but need to be separated into smaller chunks. Total of 5 heads are ready, 3 while, then 1 of each of the two colored cauliflower varieties.

Got a nice pile of sweet red Bell Peppers cleaned and cut into halves. They will have to be cut again into strips before we put them into the jars. Maybe about a gallon of those are ready to go.

The yellow Hungarian mildly hot peppers are cleaned and also halved. Depending on the size, they will probably be cut again, but some of the smaller ones are already good to go. For this batch I will be pretty light on the Hungarian peppers, the plants produced a lot already, we are getting far fewer fruits off the plants lately. Have maybe a quart, possibly a bit more, but not much more.

The spicy red-hot Pimentos are all cleaned and cut into canning size pieces. Don't really need too many of these, maybe have a bit less than a quart of these and that is going to be plenty to mix in. They are so damn hot that they burn your hands so you clean those while running water and cut them to size the first time because you don't want to mess with them again. Hell it sometimes gets hard to breath while standing over the sink cutting those ... wife won't do it so the job is relegated to me because I'm the one who insists on canning them.

All of the above will be canned up tomorrow??? Or Monday??? Depends upon the weather. We have thunderstorms projected for the whole weekend but its nice and sunny and hot outside right now so the lovely Mrs_Bob is relaxing at the pool.

But earlier this morning we made up 3 gallons of sweet & sour "refrigerator pickles & onions" and in a couple of days of sitting in their sugar/vinegar solution they should be good to eat. That is my addiction. I can eat those instead of a meal.

 

[pixie]

So, do you grow pickeling cucumbers ?

Can I pickle regular eating cucumbers ?

Got any recipes ?
Will I need a really big pot and some tongs ?

Pictures?

 

[Melensdad]

When we make up this batch I will take photos. We will be doing it sometime this weekend.

Yes you can pickle regular cucumbers but we don't do that. We grow both pickle style and salad style cucumbers.

You need a really big pot for canning pickles but you do NOT need a pressure cooker for pickles.

And yes, you need tongs. Also a funnel for filling the jars. You also some sort of probe (plastic chopsticks will work) that you poke into the packed jars to make sure you get all the air bubbles out from between the pickle pieces. Supermarkets/Wal-Mart/Etc sell all that stuff, you can buy a kit at some places that have all those things.

We use Ball brand canning jars and lids & rings. The lids can only be used 1 time. They are NOT reusable. (actually there are some new plastic ones that apparently can be reused, but we've never tried them) The screw down rings can be reused, but not the flat part of the regular metal lids.

As for recipes, the easiest way to do it is buy the pre-mix packets, which are available at the most supermarkets, Tractor Supply, Wal Mart, etc. If you want recipes instead of buying the packets of pre-mix, go to www.sbcanning.com for more information than you'll ever be able to read, but they have pretty simple to follow stuff at that website.


REFRIGERATOR PICKLES: (no canning required)
My wife has her own recipe for the "refrigerator" style pickles. For these we use regular salad cukes. They must be refrigerated but once made will last for SEVERAL MONTHS (maybe longer) as long as they remain refrigerated. She's not home now or I'd type out the recipe she uses. Basically its a mixture of vinegar and sugar. Not sure what else is in there, but she brings it to a very soft boil to melt the sugar, lets it cool down, pours it over thin sliced cucumbers and sliced sweet onions and lets it sit for about a day. They are ready to eat.

 

[Melensdad]

3 colors of cauliflower waiting to be pickled.

That is 4 full heads, 2 white, 1 golden, 1 purple.

They will be mixed with pickles and peppers into jars.

 

[Melensdad]

Assorted pickling style pickles, to be mixed with the above cauliflower. Its been salted to remove some of the excess moisture and it draining. It will drain for a couple hours, then it will be rinsed off to get rid of the excess salt. This was about the equivalent of a 4 gallon bucket before it was cut up to drain.

 

[bczoom]

Those veggies are looking real nice!

My thoughts are embedded.

You need a really big pot for canning pickles but you do NOT need a pressure cooker for pickles. You need a lot of pots when canning. Also consider an outdoor propane camp cooker. They can take the weight a lot better than most kitchen stoves (especially if you have glass or need multiple pots at the same time) as well as keeping the cooking/heat out of the kitchen.

And yes, you need tongs. Also a funnel for filling the jars. You also some sort of probe (plastic chopsticks will work) that you poke into the packed jars to make sure you get all the air bubbles out from between the pickle pieces. Supermarkets/Wal-Mart/Etc sell all that stuff, you can buy a kit at some places that have all those things. The kit is the easiest route and only costs about $7. For the probe, we normally just grab a kitchen butter knife.

We use Ball brand canning jars and lids & rings. The lids can only be used 1 time. They are NOT reusable. (actually there are some new plastic ones that apparently can be reused, but we've never tried them) The screw down rings can be reused, but not the flat part of the regular metal lids.

The reusable are referred to as "Tattler Lids". Although I have some, we haven't used them yet.

There's also regular screw on caps. http://www.canningpantry.com/bareplstca.html

As for reusing the lids (aka. "Flats"), you can re-use them but not for actual canning items to be processed (e.g. sauces, pickles...). Mrs Zoom re-uses them for dry goods kept in the pantry (salt, sugar, pasta... basically things that are kept better in jars compared to OEM packaging).

 

[Melensdad]

Ditto to all that Brian wrote.

Here are some of the various peppers that will be going into the pickle mixture (hopefully later today). The little red ones in the big stainless bowl will light you on fire but the pickle mixture is a bread & butter type flavor so it tames down those really hot little buggers! The piles are a lot bigger than they look because those are actually very large bowls. The smaller bowl is about 10" across.

No pearl or sliced onions in this batch, simply because I don't have them ready to harvest right now.

All of these various pickles, cauliflowers and peppers will be packed together. I like to keep the peppers in separate piles so that I can make sure there are some of each type in each of the jars. I'm not as picky about the colored cauliflower because all that tastes the same, but the peppers each have their own flavor so its good to make sure there are some of each in each jar.

 

[pixie]

Nice pictures, Bob !!
Love the countertop.
Looking forward to recipes and more pics.

Thanks !

 

[Melensdad]

Jars were washed but now are being brought up to a boil.

 

[Melensdad]

Not a homemade recipe, just a store bought one ... add some water, some vinegar, bring to temp, directions are simple enough that I can follow them

 

[Melensdad]

The brining solution in the pot:

 

[Melensdad]

Filled jars with as much stuff as I could cram into them. Its surprising how much space you can end up with that is just fluid if you don't really work to fill the jars.

 

[Melensdad]

The crisper stuff to keep them from getting soggy

 

[Melensdad]

The crisper stuff added to the top of the filled jar, just before you pour in the picking brine.

 

[Melensdad]

Adding the pickling brine solution.

 

[Melensdad]

Then you make triple sure the rims are clean, put on the lids, and put them back on to boil for the prescribed time (in this case 10 min for quarts, but each recipe will tell you the proper time per jar size).

 

[Melensdad]

Back into the pot.

 

[Melensdad]

Done with the first 6 quarts, waiting for them to cool off and the tops to "pop"

8 more to go.

 

[Melensdad]

14 quarts completed. 7 "Sweet" and 7 "Bread & Butter" style.

The last 2 have not yet "popped" their lids, but they probably have another 5 to 10 minutes of cooling time to go before they will pop. All the others have successfully popped. They are still pretty warm, they will cool in the kitchen over night, then we'll put them downstairs in the storage room with the others.

 

[bczoom]

Nice job Bob!

A couple things you didn't mention. You probably did them but didn't note in the thread.

For the lids/flats, put them in a small saucepan with water and bring to a light boil to sanitize. Since they're now hot, use kitchen tongs to remove and put on the jars. To keep them from sticking together in the saucepan, spread them out and put one in right-side-up, the next upside-down and repeat the loading.

A ladle for pouring pickle brine is good but if you have a lot, consider using a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup. You don't need to reach in as often. For sauces, use a 4-cup. For these as well as any other tools, they go through the boiling water as well to sanitize.

 

[Melensdad]

Nice job Bob!

A couple things you didn't mention. You probably did them but didn't note in the thread.

For the lids/flats, put them in a small saucepan with water and bring to a light boil to sanitize. Since they're now hot, use kitchen tongs to remove and put on the jars. To keep them from sticking together in the saucepan, spread them out and put one in right-side-up, the next upside-down and repeat the loading.

A ladle for pouring pickle brine is good but if you have a lot, consider using a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup. You don't need to reach in as often. For sauces, use a 4-cup. For these as well as any other tools, they go through the boiling water as well to sanitize.

We use the little magnetic "lid lifter" that came in the canning tool kit. Works really well to lift and place the lids without having to touch them.

And depending on what we are doing, we alternate between a ladle and a measuring cup to do the pouring.

I'm always amazed at how much space there is in the jars after the cans are sealed. No matter how hard I pack the veggies into the jars, there always ends up with that 1/2 inch to inch of liquid as the cooked pickles collapse(???) during the canning process and you end up with the pickles floating to the top. You can see it in the two jars on the windowsill but all the jars always end up with that space.

 

[luvs]

they look great. sure miss fresh ones. my Dad took to making his own, too. he would luv a jar of that blend you've made. he used to buy them- (sour ones). i later made my own-- those were fridge pickles, they have barrels of pickles in a kosher deli section of an 'iggle market district that're pretty yummy.

 

[Melensdad]

they look great. sure miss fresh ones. my Dad took to making his own, too. he would luv a jar of that blend you've made. he used to buy them- (sour ones). i later made my own-- those were fridge pickles, they have barrels of pickles in a kosher deli section of an 'iggle market district that're pretty yummy.

My grandparents used to can foods. My parents did not. We got a pressure canner from my mom about 25 years ago as a gift. But we have not done much for years. Got back into it, just because we have the time and energy. Oh, and because it tastes good!

As for the "refrigerator pickles" made out of cucumbers & onions, those are my 'crack' and I simply cannot resist them. The lovely Mrs_Bob used to buy them from a local butcher shop/deli that made some of the best I've ever had, but they went out of business a while back and nobody else around here makes them even close to as good as the little butcher shop did. So my wife started making them again, perfected the recipe and surpassed (in my opinion) the taste of the ones from the deli. She made a 5 gallon batch of them as soon as we had enough cukes this year and I already ate through that batch.

 

[BigAl]

Dang Bob , Those sure look good . We had pickled veggies ( store bought) with lunch and they were great . I was telling the little woman that we should can some up like you have been doing . I would love to do some Orka and also make a batch of Mexican spicy pickled veggies to snack on .

I gotta get off my dead ass and get the remaining 140 pounds of Elk in the freezer ready for Summer Sausage and Jerky . The new huntin season opens very soon and I need to make space in the freezer .

 

[Melensdad]

I've been eating pickled mixed veggies w/pickles for years. There is a small Indiana commercial canner that makes one that is better than I can make, but its hard to find. Sometimes the stores have it, then they run out for months at a time, it comes back, they run out, repeat! And none of the big chains sell the little Indiana brand.

So out of desperation and despair I decided that I needed to do it myself. I know have 20 jars in the basement storage room. That will last me until next summer when I can can up some more.