Back to old fashioned Pickling

Decades after giving up canning and ditching the precious collection of sealer jars (the old kind with glass lids and zinc screw tops), and quite a few years after finally giving away all my blue enamel canner, lovely metal funnel and lifter, I again have the urge to pickle things. I think it's my love of spices and herbs that has enticed me back.

Luckily, like vegetable gardening, home canning is enjoying a resurgence, hence the availability of Bernardin jars in most grocery stores again. (Did anyone else have trouble hunting down Italian parsley seeds this year? Our good Bob at The Natural Gardener, informed me that the nurseries were caught off guard and could not keep up with the demand for seeds and vegetable and herb transplants this spring.)

My recipes from back in the day are terse, and my memory of the proper techniques was vague, so I canvassed friends and researched the project on the internet. The pressure of time was on as I heard a rumour that cucumbers are "over" due to the rain, chatting to a total stranger in the store, as one does.

In a panicked search for a canner to borrow, I collected several offers, and then found a canner and a jar lifter, a plastic funnel, and some new-fangled gizmos like a stick with a magnet for picking up metal lids out of boiling water, regular tongs, on sale at good old neighbourhood HH.

As I recall, in the "earth mother" age, we poured hot pickles and brine into jars, put the metal snap lids on, and waited for them to pop (seal). However, modern methods call for "processing" the jars in boiling water for 10 or 15 minutes. My mother and grandmother didn't have snap lids, they used the rubber jar rings and glass lids and probably the hot canning bath but I can't remember. I do remember the hot paraffin was used to seal the amazing plum jam and chokecherry jelly, which are impossible to duplicate with anything we have available now.


Here is the web site that I think is most valuable for basic techniques and safety tips:

http://www.homecanning.com/can/ALBasics.asp


There are lots of delicious sounding recipes on the internet, but I am going to share my grandma's and mother's recipes for Three Minute Pickles and Spicy Dill Pickles. I made up my own pickling spice mix, the fun part.

I bought the fresh dill in flower and 10 pounds of lovely crisp cukes at the Richmond Country Farms on Steveston Highway. Use the cucumbers the same day when they are still really crisp.

Use pint jars for the Three Minute Pickles and quart jars for the Spicy Dills and use new metal snap lids.

I made up the Three Minute Pickles in about 1 hour between work and making dinner. I made up the Spicy Dills in another hour this morning before work. Very easy but stay organized -- the kitchen must remain very clean at all times.



Anna Reimer's 3-Minute Pickles (makes 7 to 8 pint (250 ml. jars)

Ingredients:
5 pounds or so of pickling cucumbers (12 cups sliced). You can use the bigger ones and save time slicing.
3 medium or large white onions, sliced finely
1/2 cup pickling salt (You can't substitute kosher or sea salt and you can't use table salt.)
3 cups white vinegar (5% solution, which is any store vinegar)
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. celery seeds
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1 t. turmeric

Instructions:

Slice the onions finely and put them into a bowl with the pickling salt.
Mix salt and onions and let stand overnight or for several hours. Drain. (I forgot this step so my onions only stood for a few minutes.)
Turn the oven to 200 degrees F.
Wash jars and lids in hot water and soap and drain in a clean place or run them through the dishwasher.
Put the jars into the heated oven for 20 minutes.
Put the lids into a pot of hot water on the stove and keep hot. (I read later you are not supposed to boil the lids, just hold them in very hot water.)
Wash the cucumbers very well with a clean scrub brush.
Slice the cucumbers into 1/8-to 1/4-inch slices (you'll need about 12 cups) and put them into a large bowl.
Mix the cucumbers and the drained onions.
In a stainless steel pot, boil the vinegar, sugar and spices.
Add the cucumber and onion mixture
Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes.
One minute before the cucumbers are done, take the jars out of the oven using oven mitts and put them on a clean towel on the counter near the stove. Don't touch the jar rim or insides with the oven mitts. (I used a baking sheet to avoid handling the sterile jars too much, but you have to be careful as they slide around.)
Using your wide mouth funnel, fill each jar with cucumber mixture leaving 1/2 inch (1 cm.) head space, and then fill each jar with the brine from the pot. The brine should cover the cucumbers but leave the required head space. If you spill any on the rims, carefully wipe the top of the rim clean and dry with a clean towel or paper towel.
Fish the lids out of the hot water with your tongs and put them on a clean towel.
Put a metal lid on each jar.
Screw the screw bands on finger tip tight, which is not tight at all.
Leave the jars to pop. The metal jar lids will seal as the jars cool and the lid will be sucked down and be slightly concave. It can take up to 30 minutes for them all to pop.
Let stand for 24 hours undisturbed.
Store in a cool dark place or in the frig.
You can eat them in 2 or 3 days.

If you are going to process the jars, you have to get the hot water "bath" going at the start of the process. Determine how much water you need in the canner and bring the water to a boil and then simmer while you get the jars ready.

These are the instructions from http://www.homecanning.com/can/ALStepbyStep.asp?ST=5

Place jars on elevated rack in boiling water canner.
When all jars are filled or canner is full, lower rack into water. Be sure water covers jars by at least 1 inch (2.5 cm); add boiling water if required.
Place lid on canner and turn heat to high.
When water returns to a full rolling boil, begin counting "heat processing" time - 10 minutes in this case. When time has elasped, turn off heat and remove canner lid. Allow boil to subside, then lift jars using the jar lifter without tilting and place them upright on a towel to cool in a draft-free place. DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.
Cool jars undisturbed for 24 hours.
After jars have cooled, check jar seals by pressing on centre of each lid. Refrigerate or reprocess any unsealed jars.
Wipe jars with a damp cloth.
Label and store jars in a cool, dark place. For best quality use home canned foods within one year.