When I find something new that interests me I like to research it thoroughly before I throw myself into it. The problem with that is I read so many conflicting ideas on how to do or make a certain thing, that I get totally overwhelmed at the thought of doing it 'wrong' and then I just never end up doing it. That has been the case with making pickles for the last few years. I have read so many posts from people who complained that it is pretty much impossible to get a crunchy homemade pickle. Now, I don't actually eat pickles, but the kids and Matthew do and I am pretty sure that they don't like them soft and soggy. I had read a bunch about a wonderful product called Pickle Crisp that kept pickles firm and crunchy naturally...but that the company that made it had stopped producing it a couple years ago. Darn. I also read that a few fresh grape leaves in the jars with the pickles would help them retain their firmness....but we have never had access to grape leaves. So I figured we were doomed to a lifetime of store bought pickles, and gave up on the idea.
Until this year that is. The stars have aligned in my favor, and now not only do we have a friend who just happens to have grape leaves galore in her backyard but Ball started making Pickle Crisp again! Hallelujah folks, we are gonna make some pickles after all!!
The day after we got back from camping, we woke up bright and early to head out to Sauvie Island to u-pick some cucumbers with my sister Michelle and her fiance Jason. Matthew and the kids joined us and we hit the field expecting to pick pound after pound of perfect little pickling cucumbers. Unfortunately, the place we went to had planted just 1/4 of the size cucumber field that they had the last time I was there, and the pickings were very slim. After a while, Michelle and I (with the help of our guys) each managed to walk away with about 15 pounds of cucumbers. At my friend Sarah's suggestion I had brought a cooler full of ice water, and we plunged our cuc's in there for the ride home.
We stopped at Linda's and picked a bunch of grape leaves and then met up with Michelle at our house to get started. This was her first canning experience, and I was so happy that we got to do it together. She is the second person I have taught canning to this year...I am working on slowly converting everyone I know :) We started with something I have lots of experience with...jam! We had each picked a few pounds of Tulameen raspberries (which are absolutely my new favorite variety!) and Michelle wanted to make hers into jam for Jason. That went pretty fast, and then it was on to pickling.
Michelle washed and cleaned her cuc's, still soaking in their ice bath:
Then she cut a tiny bit off the blossom and stem ends. There is an enzyme in the blossom end that causes the cuc's to turn into soggy pickles, and that's exactly what we are trying so hard to avoid.
Michelle made a bunch of different batches from different recipes that she had found online. I think she did spicy dill, garlic dill, and some regular dill's were in there too. She packed them all into pint jars, and covered them with a vinegar brine:
Since she was using smaller jars, it took quite a while to get all her cuc's used up - I think we canned for at least 7 hours! It was really fun for me though, usually when I am canning its just me and this time I had both Michelle and Matthew for company. Michelle left around 6, and after a quick dinner Matthew and I got started on our load of cucumbers. We had wanted to try a few of the Mrs. Wages pre-packaged mixes because I have heard so many good things about them, and then do a batch with fresh ingredients that my friend Sarah had shared with me. But we didn't end up with enough cucumbers to do them all so we ended up doing just the 3 packaged mixes. We made 4 quarts of dill, and 4 quarts of kosher dill, and then 3 quarts of sweet pickles. Matthew helped me pack the cucumbers into jars (its like playing Tetris!) and then he poured the brine over the top while I added lids and rings:
It was a long day and we were so tired by the time we finally got done (close to 9pm) but it was worth it to look at my counter and see what we had accomplished. There is nothing quite as satisfying as a counter full of freshly canned food:
We are planning on on swapping a few jars with Michelle, and the kids and I are going back this week for more cucumbers so we can try Sarah's recipe. When we were canning the pickles, we did some with pickle crisp and some with grape leaves...its going to be interesting to see which produces a crunchier pickle! I should have an answer after these sit for a few weeks!
Until this year that is. The stars have aligned in my favor, and now not only do we have a friend who just happens to have grape leaves galore in her backyard but Ball started making Pickle Crisp again! Hallelujah folks, we are gonna make some pickles after all!!
The day after we got back from camping, we woke up bright and early to head out to Sauvie Island to u-pick some cucumbers with my sister Michelle and her fiance Jason. Matthew and the kids joined us and we hit the field expecting to pick pound after pound of perfect little pickling cucumbers. Unfortunately, the place we went to had planted just 1/4 of the size cucumber field that they had the last time I was there, and the pickings were very slim. After a while, Michelle and I (with the help of our guys) each managed to walk away with about 15 pounds of cucumbers. At my friend Sarah's suggestion I had brought a cooler full of ice water, and we plunged our cuc's in there for the ride home.
We stopped at Linda's and picked a bunch of grape leaves and then met up with Michelle at our house to get started. This was her first canning experience, and I was so happy that we got to do it together. She is the second person I have taught canning to this year...I am working on slowly converting everyone I know :) We started with something I have lots of experience with...jam! We had each picked a few pounds of Tulameen raspberries (which are absolutely my new favorite variety!) and Michelle wanted to make hers into jam for Jason. That went pretty fast, and then it was on to pickling.
Michelle washed and cleaned her cuc's, still soaking in their ice bath:
Then she cut a tiny bit off the blossom and stem ends. There is an enzyme in the blossom end that causes the cuc's to turn into soggy pickles, and that's exactly what we are trying so hard to avoid.
Michelle made a bunch of different batches from different recipes that she had found online. I think she did spicy dill, garlic dill, and some regular dill's were in there too. She packed them all into pint jars, and covered them with a vinegar brine:
Since she was using smaller jars, it took quite a while to get all her cuc's used up - I think we canned for at least 7 hours! It was really fun for me though, usually when I am canning its just me and this time I had both Michelle and Matthew for company. Michelle left around 6, and after a quick dinner Matthew and I got started on our load of cucumbers. We had wanted to try a few of the Mrs. Wages pre-packaged mixes because I have heard so many good things about them, and then do a batch with fresh ingredients that my friend Sarah had shared with me. But we didn't end up with enough cucumbers to do them all so we ended up doing just the 3 packaged mixes. We made 4 quarts of dill, and 4 quarts of kosher dill, and then 3 quarts of sweet pickles. Matthew helped me pack the cucumbers into jars (its like playing Tetris!) and then he poured the brine over the top while I added lids and rings:
It was a long day and we were so tired by the time we finally got done (close to 9pm) but it was worth it to look at my counter and see what we had accomplished. There is nothing quite as satisfying as a counter full of freshly canned food:
We are planning on on swapping a few jars with Michelle, and the kids and I are going back this week for more cucumbers so we can try Sarah's recipe. When we were canning the pickles, we did some with pickle crisp and some with grape leaves...its going to be interesting to see which produces a crunchier pickle! I should have an answer after these sit for a few weeks!