Bread & Butter Pickles

BREAD & BUTTER PICKLE RECIPES

These easy-to-make pickles are great for topping sandwiches or just munching. They also make a great sweet pickle to chop up and add to potato salad recipes. This recipe makes about 7 pints.

Procedure

Start by preparing jars and getting water in the canner heating. You want the canner hot, but not boiling, when the jars are ready to be processed. See page xx for full water bath canning instructions. Preparing Cucumbers 1. Wash cucumbers. 2. Slice cucumbers and onions.

Ingredients

• 4 pounds pickling cucumbers • 2 pounds onions • 1/3 cup canning salt • 3 cups vinegar • 2 cups sugar • 2 Tbsp. mustard seed • 2 tsp. turmeric • 2 tsp. celery seed • 1 tsp. ginger Do you know why these are called “bread and butter pickles”?

• 1 tsp. peppercorns • Ice cubes

Supplies

• Crinkle cutter (optional) • Water bath canner • Canning jars, seals, and rings • Large pot • Canning funnel, lid lifter, and jar lifter

3. Layer cucumbers, onions, and salt in large bowl. 4. Cover with ice cubes and let sit 1–2 hours on the counter. (Cover with a towel.) 5. Drain and rinse cucumbers/onions.

Drain well.

Quick Tip

• Ladle and bubble tool Apparently, back in the depression years, inexpensive pickle sandwiches were common. These pickles on bread with butter made an afternoon meal!

Canning Procedure

1. Combine vinegar, sugar, and seasonings in a large pot.

Bring to a boil. 2. Add cucumbers and onions to vinegar mixture. 3. Return to a boil. 4. Pack into hot jar, leaving 1/4” headspace. 5. Remove air bubbles, wipe the rim clean, and place on seal and ring. 6. Place the jar in the warm canner.

Proceed to fill all jars. 7. Process according to chart below.

Processing Times for Water Bath Canner (Hot Pack)

Altitude

0-1,000 ft 1,001-3,000 ft 3,001-6,000 ft 6,001-8,000 ft 8,001-10,000 ft

Pints and Quarts are Processed the Same

10 minutes 15 minutes 20 minutes 25 minutes 30 minutes

SHARON’S TIPS FOR BREAD & BUTTER PICKLES

A few tips... and a note about yellow stains!

These pickle slices are pretty easy to make. The recipe is very popular on Simply Canning. Remember you can adjust the dry spices if you have a different flavor that you are looking for. Let’s talk about Turmeric! Turmeric is very yellow and it stains. I’d suggest having a towel down that you won’t mind if spill happen. I’ve done this recipe and ended up with yellow splotches on my counter. If it happens to you, clean it up best you can and then have patience. It does wear off.

Crinkle Cutter

I like to use my crinkle cutter for making crinkle slices. Slice your cucumbers as evenly as you can, about ¼” thick. I’ve also used a mandolin slicer, which was quick and easy, but it made the slices thinner than I like. The cucumber slices ended up pretty soft and super thin after the pickles were processed. Still tasty, but the thicker slices were a better quality. It is personal taste.

Adapted from Resource:

Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving.