Recipe: Traditional Bread and Butter Pickles from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

TRADITIONAL BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES
Source: Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

10 cups sliced trimmed pickling cucumbers
4 medium onions
1/2 cup pickling or canning salt
3 cups white vinegar
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1 teaspoon ground turmeric

In a glass or stainless steel bowl, combine cucumbers, onions and salt. Mix well, cover with cold water and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours. Transfer to a colander, place over a sink, rinse with cool running water and drain thoroughly.

Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars and lids.

In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds and turmeric. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Stir in vegetables and return to a boil.

Pack vegetables into hot jars within a generous 1/2 inch of top of jar. (See note). Ladle hot pickling liquid into jar to cover vegetables, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot pickling liquid. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude (see note). Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

Note: Processing time must be lengthened when canning at elevations higher than 1,000 feet above sea level. For elevations between 1,001 and 3,000 feet, add five minutes of processing time to those given in the recipes. For elevations between 3,001 and 6,000 feet, add 10 minutes. At 6,001 to 8,000 feet, add 15 minutes.

Ball editors recommend using Pickle Crisp to make fresh-pack pickles crisper. Add 3/4 teaspoon to pint jars and 1 1/2 teaspoons to quart jars before processing.

VARIATIONS:


FOR BRITISH BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES:
Substitute 3 cups cider vinegar for the white vinegar and 2 cups packed brown sugar for the granulated sugar. Add 1 teaspoon ground ginger along with the turmeric.

FOR ZESTY BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES:
Substitute 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish for the celery seeds and 2 tablespoons grated gingerroot for the turmeric.

Yield: About 5 pints