Zesty Bread 'N Butter Pickles

Locally grown pickling cucumbers became available about mid July.  I bought 2 quarts to start on my quest to find at least one good dill pickle recipe.  That was quickly followed by another 4 quarts of cucumbers an finally a hamper.  I spent a total of $30 on pickling cucumbers.  In perspective that would have bought me 6 - 1 gallon (3.8 L) jars of kosher dill pickles but store bought dills have sodium benzoate (a preservative) and yellow dye 5 (allergen), two ingredients we are avoiding wherever possible.  To break even on pickles I needed to have a total yield of 22.8 L of homemade pickles but only if I made all dill pickles.  Other store bought pickles, like sweet bread and butter pickles are as high as $3.89 for a 500 ml jar.  I decided to make a variety of cucumber based pickles to ensure I realized a savings.  Over the next few days I will share what I made with you. 

The first cucumber purchase was used to make Zesty Bread 'n Butter Pickles (left) and  freezer pickles (right).  Both are a sweet, tangy bread and butter pickle.  One is canned and the other is partially pickled before packing into jars then put in the freezer.  I used Tattler reusable lids on the canned pickles as pictured.  The bands are still on them because the jars just came out of the canner.  I used Bernardin storage caps on the jars for the freezer.  I have found that metal bands will rust in the freezer.  Note the difference in the colour of the two pickles.  The freezer pickles retain a brighter green colour.  Both are very flavourful pickles well worth having on hand.  My yield was 10 - 250 ml jars or 2.5 L.  At store bought prices this yield would have cost about $19.45 regular price and as low as $9.95 sale price depending on where purchased.

The Zesty Bread 'N Butter Pickles was a new recipe I decided to try this year from Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving, the Canadian equivalent to the Ball Blue Book.  I did a half batch rather than the full batch that would have given a yield of 7 - 500 ml jars.  I was quite pleased with the initial flavour of the pickles.  They looked quite nice in the jars as well.  There were no seal failures with the Tattlers so that was rather nice as well.

When making pickles, it is important to use a kitchen scale.  Most of the recipes are in pounds or kilograms with respect to the cucumbers and some additional vegetables.  Be sure to tare the scale with the bowl or container before weighing the produce.  To tare the scale, place the empty bowl on the scale and set to zero.  Now add the produce a little at the time until you reach the correct weight called for in the recipe.  Remove the filled bowl and prepare as called for in the recipe.  The scale should be tared each time you use it with a bowl or container.

Zesty Bread 'N Butter Pickles
source: modified from Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving, 2006, Pp. 73.

3¼ lb pickling cucumbers
½ lb onions
8 tsp pickling salt
2½ c white vinegar (5% acetic acid)
⅔ c granulated sugar
¼ c pickling spice
1 tbsp celery seed
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground turmeric

Wash cucumbers.  Cut a thin slice from each end of the cucumbers and discard.  Slice cucumbers and onions ¼ inch thick.  Layer the cucumbers and onins in a large glass or stainless steel container, sprinkling each layer lightly with salt.  Cover and let stand 15 minutes.  Combine remaining ingredients in large stainless steel saucepan.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and boil gently 15 minutes.  Drain the vegetables.  Add to pickling liquid.  Mix well.  Return mixture to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Ladle into hot jars leaving ¾ inch headspace.  Wipe rim.  Place two piece metal snap lids (or Tattler reusable lids or glass inserts) on jars.  Apply screw band according to type of lid being used.  Process 10 minutes in BWB at altitudes up to 1,000 feet above sea level.  At higher altitudes refer to altitude adjustment chart on Canning FYI page.  Remove from canner.  If using Tattler reusable lids or glass inserts, immediately tighten bands.  Do not tighten bands if using metal snap lids.    Allow to cool 24 hours.  Remove bands and check for seal.  Wash jars and bands.  Bands can be stored separately or replaced loosely on jars as desired.

Home Canned Pineapple Pieces and Pineapple Jelly

One of our local grocery stores (No Frills) held their dollar sale in early June.  At one time, the dollar sales were for food products that we normally would not buy like those pre-made kiddie lunch kits, boxed convenience foods and snacks.  Basically most of what was offered in these earlier sales was foods that were not healthy.  They were laden with sugar, salt, fat and preservatives.  However, the economy has changed and that is being reflected is what people are willing to buy.  The dollar sales have done an about face with foods like fresh pineapple and other produce, mushrooms, lunch meat, pork loin roasts, sliced cheeses being offered.  It is nice to see that real food is being offered.  Of course, I took advantage of the sale!

Fresh pineapples were on for $1 each so I bought two to can.  Store bought pineapple ranges in price from $1.89 to $2.49 so I knew there would be a substantial savings just in canning the pineapple pieces.  I ended up with 5 - 250 ml (half-pint) jars of pineapple pieces for a net savings of at minimum of $8.  There was a lot of the pineapple flavoured syrup left over from the pineapple pieces as well as a few pineapple pieces so I combined them to make a pineapple jelly, something that you can't buy in the grocery stores.   Pineapple jelly can be used as a glaze for ham or pork as well as a spread or as a baking ingredient.  If you were able to buy pineapple jelly at a gourmet shop, it would likely have a price sticker of $6.99 or more.  I ended up with 3 - 250 ml (pint) jars of pineapple jelly for the pantry and almost a full jar for the refrigerator which really increased my net savings.  Note that I used Tattler reusable canning lids on all the jars for the pantry.   There were no seal failures.  I used a reusable Bernardin screw on cap for the refrigerator jar.

The pH of the pineapple jelly was pH 2.7 so adding lemon juice was not necessary.  However, the lemon juice adds a sparkle to the jelly with it's flavour note.  The flavour of the pineapple jelly was delightful so this is a lovely product for my pantry shelves.  I can't wait to use it!

Pineapple Jelly
recipe by:  Garden Gnome

4 c pineapple flavoured light syrup
1 c pineapple pieces
2 tbsp lemon juice
¼ c organic sugar
4 tsp Pomona's pectin
4 tsp calcium water

Bring the syrup and pineapple pieces to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and strain.  Add the lemon juice and calcium water.  Mix the pectin with the sugar.  Return the strained liquid to the heat.  Bring to a boil.  Stir in the sugar/pectin mixture.  Continue cooking 1 - 2 minutes until the sugar mixture is dissolved.  Fill hot jars leaving ¼ - inch headspace.  Wipe rims.  Screw on lids.  Process in BWB canner 10 minutes at altitudes up to 1,000 feet above sea level.  Adjust timing for altitude above 1,000 feet above sea level using the altitude adjustment chart on the Canning FYI page.