Yet Another Canning Project...

Yes, the mind just reels at the thought of another canning project but this weekend brought more canning fun. This was a much simpler one. In fact, from start to finish, about two hours total.

Pickles!!!

Pickle spears, whole pickles, and hamburger slices...

I've been searching all over looking for canning pickles. I even tried growing my own but I cannot seem to produce enough in a timely manner to make even one batch.

Then, one morning out of the blue, my friend Caitlin calls and says she's at the store and they have canning pickles. I jumped out of bed - yes, I was still in bed. It was the weekend and T Rex Dad lets me sleep in and serves me breakfast while I contemplate getting up. However, pickling cucumbers calling my name made me literally leap out of bed.

Off I went to the store, purchased 5 lbs of pickles, kosher salt, apple cider vinegar, garlic cloves, and fresh dill. (I did grow dill in my garden but a wind storm last week destroyed it. I was so sad, it smelled so fresh in the garden.)

Then after T Rex retired to bed, I began my project:

1. Cleaned cucumbers (5 lbs or about 40 four to five inch pickling cucumbers)
2. Prepared boiling water mix (3 3/4 cup vinegar, 3 3/4 cup water, 6 tbsp kosher salt)
3. Packed jars with cucumbers (either whole, spears, or slices), dropped in a clove of garlic, and three heads of fresh dill
4. Poured hot water mix into jars
5. Processed jars for 15 minutes (the increased time is because we are at a higher altitude)

Yielded 10 pint sized jars of Kosher pickles (non-Kosher are made with mustard seed).

Now the hard part - waiting two weeks for them to cure before eating them! If they are as good as they look, I'm thinking those ten jars won't be lasting very long. (Serious dill pickle cravings right now!) These are for the family's personal food storage - no Christmas gifts here. Although, if anyone rates one it would be Caitlin, she did find the cucumbers!

We'll have to see...