canning pickles

[Mike Steckelberg]

My wife and I are getting ready to start canning some pickles but in the past we have had a major problem with keeping them crispy. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice for keeping pickles crispy? thanks

[pushbutton]

First off make sure they are relatively fresh picked and firm. Chilling them overnight before canning them also helps, you essentially will be "cold packing"; put cold pickles in the jar, add your boiling brine, and water bath them not much more than five minutes. Do this and the pickles should be pretty crunchy!

[thirdeye]

I make refrigerator pickles specifically for their crispness. And also asparagus, cauliflower, green beans, onions, jalapenos... etc. Mrs Wages "Regrigerator" mixes are my favorite, but I'll bet there are some scratch mixes out there too.

[goblueM]

there is also a product (by Ball i think) called "pickle crisp"

i used it for the first time this year and it worked well

also make sure to cut off about 1/4 inch from the blossom end of the cuke, it has enzymes that tend to make the pickle less crunchy

[Neighbor_guy]

I tried my hand at pickles for the first time this past weekend. So far it has been a learning experience. I tried some recipes that were offered to me by friends and family and they have turned out ok. I dont think I will use the same "dill pickle" recipe again, it turned out a bit salty.

My "sour pickle" one turned out fantastic. We did carrots, cucumbers (both slices and whole), coliflower, and green beans. I hope the rest of it all turned out like the green beans, nice and crunchy, the right amount of sour, yum.

Haven't tried the "sweets" yet.

I will say this, next year I will be putting some distance between the "Pickling" and "Burpless" cucumbers. I have gotten some very strange hybrids. Cann't blame the bees. Just a rooky mistake

[hockeybc69]

I just jarred up 6 pints of sliced cucumbers this week. Never done it before and I was wondering about how the "crispness" will fair......

We will see in a few weeks.

[Jim Almquist]

Not sure about the amount but I thought it was 1/8 of a teaspoon but we always added Alum to each jar.

From Wiki: Alum powder, found in the spice section of many grocery stores, may be used in pickling recipes as a preservative to maintain fruit and vegetable crispness.

[Mike Steckelberg]

Great thank you...some people have told me I need to add alum to them?

[Jim Almquist]

After we packed the jar with dill,peppercorns,garlic and a slice of jaloponos we would add the alum and then fill with our brine.

[hockeybc69]

Thanks!!!

[3pronghook]

add 1/4 tsp alum to the jar before you fill with really hot brine. hot bath whole pickles 5 mins or less. i hot bath cut pickles (spears) only a couple mins. if you use really hot brine tha jars will most likely seal even without hotbathing. fridge pickles will be really crisp.

[KEN W]

I add Alum plus Tumeric to make them a yellow color.

[Agent Andy]

I use grape leaves and they really work. Put in a couple of leaves. They are not to hard to find. Good Luck.

[otterman91105]

We always can about two bushels a years ends up being about eighty quarts or so. Never had any issues with pickles being soft, but we leave the pickles whole. Very good recipe. If any one would like it just let me know. They will sit canned for up to a year.

[Walleyehooker]

I just did some refridgerator pickles that are easy and come out good. A search on the net will give you a lot of recipes. I also noticed grape leaves mentioned in some of them to keep them more crisp.Must be something to it and Im going to give them a try in my next batch. Refridgerator pickles dont need a hot water bath but they tend to loose their crispness over time.You can also buy mixes at the stores for pickles.

[Fazerfish]

I'm looking for a recipe...I searched the internet and found a bunch, the one I tried turned out OK, but I'm looking for that awesome recipe I know is out there... I am a beginner at canning whole green beans, adding a Habenero pepper to each jar...sometimes just a Jalepeno,but they tend not to be hot enough...

Let me know what recipe works good for you..

thanks

[hockeybc69]

Not hot enough? add 2 habaneros.

I use one habanero with my beans in pint jars and add a teaspoon of cayenne. Any more heat and most people wouldnt eat them that I know.

[otterman91105]

Well he is the recipe that we use.

Brine

1 cup pickling salt

6 cups vinager

13 cups water

Bring brine to boil and simmer for fifteen minutes. In mean time pack jars with pickles two or three sprigs of dill, two cloves of garlic (about a half a tbs). After jars are packed put a tbs of sugar on top of jars. After brine has boiled for fifteen minutes pour hot brine over pickles that are packed into jars put lids and seals on. I then put cold water in bath tub up to the top of the jars and they always seal. To add heat to them just add peppers. This recipe will keep them crisp for a year.