When it comes to backyard gardening, cucumbers are one of the easiest things to grow, at least for me. Every year I plant just a few plants and always end up with an over-abundance of fresh cucumbers which I happily enjoy! We like using fresh cucumbers to make cucumber salad, tuna salad boats, sliced & tossed in a regular veggie salad, etc. When I have an abundance of them coming out of my garden…I will make my own batch of bread and butter pickles. If you’re new to home canning, pickle making is one of the easiest ways to get started.
This recipe is one that I got from my father-in-law about 20 years ago and I’ve been using it ever since. If you don’t have that many cucumbers lying around, you can certainly “half” the recipe to make a smaller batch. Since cucumbers vary in size, I can’t tell you exactly how many jars of pickles this recipe will yield.
Home Canning – Bread and Butter Pickles Recipe
1 gallon of fresh & ripe cucumbers
8 small onions
1 1/2 cups salt
Wash, but do not peel cucumbers. Slice 1/4″ thick. Mix cucumbers and onions with salt. Put large piece of ice in center of large pan with cucumbers. Cover and weigh down so as to keep cucumbers below water as ice melts. After 3 hours, drain.
Canning Syrup:
5 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons tumeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 tablespoon mustard seed
5 cups cider vinegar
Mix the ingredients together in a large pan and bring to a boil. Boil the syrup for 3 minutes and then pour it over the cucumbers and stir. Heat all of this until it comes to a full rolling boil again. Spoon the mixture into sterilized clean mason jars and seal. Process in your water bath canner according to instructions for your canner.
When I make my father-in-law’s recipe, I process my jars in my water bath canner for 10 full minutes and then remove them to cool. If you’re new to home canning, you’ll find to follow all of the instructions that came with your water bath canner. After a few hours you’ll want to check all of your mason jars to make sure they sealed properly. Your new pickles should keep for up to 1 year when properly processed and canned. I recommend not opening any of your jars until they have sat for at least 6 weeks which allows all of the flavors to infuse.
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This does sound like a great recipe. I keep on saying that I am going to try canning, but just have not yet done it Of course, first I have to have an overabundance of produce.
These sound terrific. I love using fresh out of the garden pickles too. So good! I love a good bread and butter pickle. Truly If they are the good ones you can just put them on bread and butter sandwiches (which I do!)
We love bread and butter pickles in our house! There is just never better than home made food and this recipe is a prime example of that. My MOther and I are planning to get together this summer and make our pickles and give a few jars away to friends.
This sounds so good and fairly easy. I will try this soon. Thank you for the recipe.