Making Pickles
I made pickles yesterday. Our garden this year contained, among other things, four pickling cucumber plants. By yesterday, we had about fifty 3 inch long cucumbers. I've never made pickles before, so I had to do some research to figure out how, and I ended up purchasing a Mrs. Wages Pickling Mix, and following the directions on the packet.
I started by washing the jars and lids in hot, sudsy water, and keeping them hot in almost boiling water. (I used my biggest stock pot, with a rack in the bottom to set the jars on.)
Then I prepared the cucumbers, slicing the more curly ones, and cutting the straighter ones into long spears.
Once the cucumbers were ready, I combined the pickling mix, water and vinegar in a pot over medium heat, and stirred it until the mix was dissolved and the brine was starting to boil.
Then I took a jar from the hot water, loaded it with cucumber pieces, poured the brine in until there was only about 1/2 inch of air in the top, then put on a jar top and screwed on the lid, then put it back in the very hot water. I repeated this process until I had seven pint-sized jars filled.
When all the jars were filled and back in the hot water, I put the lid on the pot and brought it to a boil, then let it boil for about 10 minutes. (Since I live at about 5000 feet above sea level, I had to cook it twice as long as it said on the package.)
After the ten minutes, I removed the jars from the boiling water and sat them on a towel on the counter to cool for 24 hours. I think only one of them failed to seal properly; we'll eat that one first.
Anyway, now I've got a bunch of homemade pickles to eat!
I started by washing the jars and lids in hot, sudsy water, and keeping them hot in almost boiling water. (I used my biggest stock pot, with a rack in the bottom to set the jars on.)
Then I prepared the cucumbers, slicing the more curly ones, and cutting the straighter ones into long spears.
Once the cucumbers were ready, I combined the pickling mix, water and vinegar in a pot over medium heat, and stirred it until the mix was dissolved and the brine was starting to boil.
Then I took a jar from the hot water, loaded it with cucumber pieces, poured the brine in until there was only about 1/2 inch of air in the top, then put on a jar top and screwed on the lid, then put it back in the very hot water. I repeated this process until I had seven pint-sized jars filled.
When all the jars were filled and back in the hot water, I put the lid on the pot and brought it to a boil, then let it boil for about 10 minutes. (Since I live at about 5000 feet above sea level, I had to cook it twice as long as it said on the package.)
After the ten minutes, I removed the jars from the boiling water and sat them on a towel on the counter to cool for 24 hours. I think only one of them failed to seal properly; we'll eat that one first.
Anyway, now I've got a bunch of homemade pickles to eat!
Comments
Post a Comment