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Darkened pickles. Iron in hard water, or loose ground spices.

Bleached-looking pickles. With no signs of spoilage present, this could mean that jars were exposed to light during storage. Wrap the jars in paper or put them in closed cartons if the place they’re stored is not dark.

CONVERSIONS FOR PICKLES AND RELISHES

Do look at the conversions for metrics, with workable roundings-off, and for altitude—both in Chapter 3—and apply them. Note: this chapter has B–W Bath processing—make your altitude adjustments accordingly.

Pickles and Relishes

Sweet Pickle Chips

4 to 5 pints

These are so delicious and so easy that you’ll want to make several separate batches as the cucumbers come along.

4 pounds pickling cucumbers (3 to 4 inches long)

Brining solution:

1 quart distilled white vinegar

½ cup sugar

3 tablespoons pickling salt

½ tablespoon mustard seed

Canning syrup:

3 cups sugar

1 cups distilled white vinegar

1⅔ tablespoon whole allspice

2¼ teaspoons celery seed

Wash the cucumbers, remove any blemishes, nip off the stems and blossom ends, and cut them crossways in ¼-inch-thick slices. In a large enameled or stainless steel kettle, mix together the ingredients for the brining solution; add the cut cucumbers. Cover and simmer until the cucumbers change color from bright to dull green (about 5 to 7 minutes).

Meanwhile have ready the canning syrup ingredients heated to the boil in an enameled kettle. Drain the cucumber slices and pack them, while still piping hot, in hot 1-pint canning jars, and cover them with very hot syrup, leaving ½ inch of headroom. Remove air bubbles, and adjust lids. (Pack and add the hot syrup to one jar at a time, returning the syrup kettle to low heat between filling and capping each jar, so the syrup doesn’t cool.) Process filled and capped jars using the low-temperature pasteurization treatment, page 320 or in a Boiling–Water Bath (212 F/100 C) for 5 minutes. Remove jars and complete seals if using bailed jars.

• Adjustment for my altitude if B–W processing _________________.

Little Cucumber Crock Pickles

This is an old-time recipe producing small, crisp, whole pickles with good flavor. They take 4 to 5 weeks to make; and if they’re put in brine as they come along in season, and kept in a cool place, they should last well into winter.

1 gallon cider vinegar (regular 5 percent)

½ cup sugar (or 1 teaspoon powdered straight saccharin)

1 cup whole mustard seed

1 cup pickling salt (pure, no fillers) plus salt to add later

Optional: 4 fresh dill heads; or more, if you like stronger dill

About 10 pounds (a scant peck) 3 to 4-inch pickling cucumbers

Thoroughly scrub a 5-gallon earthenware crock with hot water and soap, rinse well, then scald with boiling water; be energetic about it, because any residue of fat or milk from a previous use will ruin the pickles. In the crock mix together the vinegar, sweetening, mustard seed, and, salt; lay dill heads on the bottom if you like them. Keep the crock in a constantly cool place (40 to maximum 50 F/4 to maximum 10 C).

As they’re gathered, wash the little cucumbers well, rub off the blossom ends (where enzymes are concentrated), and drop the cucumbers into the brine. Push newly harvested ones toward the bottom of the container as it fills, so the last ones in will not be the first ones out. Hold the pickles beneath the brine with a weighted plate (a pint jar filled with water weighs enough), and cover the crock with a layer of clean cheesecloth or muslin.

If you put all the cucumbers in at the same time, after three days add 1 cup more pickling salt, laid on the plate where it will dissolve slowly downward (the extra salt counteracts weakening of the brine as the natural juice is drawn from the cucumbers). One week later, put ¼ cup more salt on the submerged plate; and continue adding ¼ cup salt in this manner each week until the pickles are ready. At the end of a month, test by cutting a pickle crossways: if it is firm, and clear