Hi again. I didn’t forget about posting my favorite bread and butter pickles. I have been making this recipe for 22 years. According to my recipe, I started making them July 31, 2002. What can I say? It is our family favorite pickle, besides of course our dill pickle recipe.
This recipe and our dill pickles is what got me started at the community garden where I have two plots each 25′ x 100′. One is called the ‘Pickle Patch,’ and the other ‘The Back 40’.
For a period of time, I cheated as my yard just wasn’t conducive to having a vegetable garden. Way to shady. I guess you can’t call it cheating, but to make my homemade pickles I bought them at the farmers’ market. So, if you don’t have a garden go to your nearest farmer’s market.
Now for the recipe…
My Favorite Bread and Butter Pickles
Ingredients
- 3 Pounds Cucumbers 3- to 4-inch pickling cucumbers
- 4 medium onions Thinly sliced.
- 1/2 Cup Canning and Pickling Salt
- 6 Cups Water
- 3 Cups Cider Vinegar 5% acidity
- 2 Cups Dark Brown Sugar Firmly Packed
- 2 Tablespoon Mustard Seed
- 1 Teaspoon Celery Seed
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
- 1 Teaspoon Turmeric
Instructions
- Prepare canning jars according to the instructions or check out the canning and preserving guides by Ball Canning.
- Wash cucumbers and remove the blossom end.
- Cut cucumbers into 1/8 inch slices.
- Peel 4 onions and thinly slice.
- Combine cucumber slices, onion slices, salt and water in a large bowl. Mix well.
- Cover and let stand for 2 hours.
- In a 6-6o 8- quart saucepot, combine vinegar, and remaining ingredients.
- Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Drain vegetables; rinse; drain again.
- Add vegetables to vinegar mixture and return to boil.
- Pack hot pickles and liquid into hot jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
- Remove air bubbles with a nonmetallic spatula.
- Wipe jar rim clean.
- Place lid on jar with sealing compound next to glass.
- Screw band on to fingertip tight or until resistance is met.
- Place in boiling water bath canner.
- Process 10 minutes. Start timing after it comes back to a boil.
- Yield about 4-5 pints.
Video
Notes
Final Thoughts
Taster Jars and Uses
This year, I made some 1/4 pints or taster jars. These tasters will go to my siblings or others that have never had them and, if they tell me they love them, next year they get a bigger jar. I don’t know about you, but a lot of time goes into making this recipe and to give it to someone that doesn’t really love it… That, to me, is wasting time and good food. So, I came up with taster jars.
When I package up my homemade goodies for Christmas gifts, I add decorative labels with how we like to use our homemade products. So, my label will say we like to use my bread and butters on turkey or ham sandwiches, the juice gives extra pizazz in deviled eggs, is the secret ingredient chopped in egg salad and chopped in tartar sauce. For us, this recipe has the right balance of sweet/sour and spices.
Please let me know if you make this recipe and how you like to serve them.
Happy Canning!
