Bad News: The many quarts of pickles I put up over the last couple of weeks have got to be trashed. All of them, because of the hot bath processing time, ended up soft and mushy. By the way, I’ve also found that the fresh dill sprigs that I was so excited about will quickly overwhelm the other flavors of the pickles if you use too much. I used too much by about 3X.
Good News: The cucumber plants (beds) are producing like crazy so I really haven’t lost the opportunity to get a years worth under seal.
Last evening I put up 7 pints and processed them for 5 minutes (quarts were processed for 15). Dill seed is impossible to find right now, so I pulled some fresh dill from the garden and used it judiciously. I also used 1 teaspoon of ‘pickling spice’ per pint and decided to forgo the pepper elements (jalapeno, cracked red, and pepper corn).
Jalapeno’s are next to be canned. My four bushes are producing like gang-busters so will be up robbing those plants later in the day.
Will let you know how it turns out.
I’ve never ‘processed’ my pickles for just that reason.
I prefer a simple dill pickle brine (salt, vinegar, garlic, dill) that’a rather heavy on the vinegar, so I can’t speculate on success with other ingredients (peppers, etc.).
I start by chilling the garlic and cukes (whole, spears or sliced) COLD in an ice water bath, with lids and jars kept hot and simmering and the brine at a steady boil (not a light simmer, but not a full rolling boil).
ONE AT A TIME (working as quickly as you can to prevent cooling), pull a jar from the hot bath, load the ingredients**, pour the still boiling brine, pull a lid from the hot-bath and seal.
That’s it. Set aside to cool and listen for the ‘pink!’ of the cap sealing. I’ve only had two jars fail to seal using this method and those both were when I was just starting out and learning.
** A trick I learned to reduce fumbling is to have a pre-load jar handy that you can ‘test load’ so you have the right amount of product ready and don’t waste time fumbling with ‘too much’ or ‘not enough’ while actually packing. Speed is of the essence so the hardware and brine don’t cool too much before you cap to get a proper seal.