Canning Dill Pickles – Grandma Ella’s Recipe – Insightful Nana (2024)

FAQs

Should you salt cucumbers before pickling? ›

You will need a recipe, most of which will tell you to salt your sliced cucumbers and let them sit for about 3 hours (more is better). This salt treatment draws water out of the cucumbers and flavors them, so it's critically important.

The classic ratio is super easy to remember and is easily scale-able depending on how many pickles you're making. It's 100% vinegar, 50% water, 25% sugar and 12.5% kosher salt by weight. So for example, 200g vinegar, 100g water, 50g sugar and 25g kosher salt (again, you can scale this up or down!).

Label and date your jars and store them in a clean, cool, dark, and dry place such as a pantry, cabinet, or basem*nt. Don't store in a warm spot! To allow pickles to mellow and develop a delicious flavor, wait at least 3 weeks before eating! Keep in mind that pickles may be ready to enjoy earlier.

Wages^® White Distilled Vinegar, water, and Mrs. Wages^® Dill Pickles Mix into a large non-reactive saucepan. Do not use aluminum. Bring mixture just to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture dissolves.

Use Calcium Chloride

Calcium chloride (CaCl2), sometimes known as “pickle crisp”, is a type of salt that helps preserve the crunchiness of food. It is used in the food industry to help preserve the texture of canned fruit and vegetables.

The next step is to make a saltwater solution and soak your cucumbers for a minimum of 12 hours (up to 7 days). The beauty of soaking your cucumbers is that you don't need to be ready to make pickles right when you pick your cucumbers (or bring them home from the market).

An easy pickling recipe to follow is the 3-2-1 method; three parts water, two parts vinegar, and one part sugar. This 3-2-1 pickle brine is on the sweeter side, making it great for bread and butter pickles or spicy pickled beets. For a more savory pickle, use less sugar.

Vinegar: Use white distilled or cider vinegars of 5% acidity. Any kind of vinegar with unknown acidity should not be used. White vinegar is usually preferred when a light color is desirable. The level of acidity in a pickled or fermented product is as important to its safety as it is to taste and texture.

For quick pickles, a basic brine is equal parts vinegar and water, but you can adjust the ratio to your preference. Any basic vinegar is game — white vinegar, apple cider, white wine, and rice vinegar all work well. You can use these vinegars alone or in combination.

It may be a normal reaction during fermentation caused by bacteria. If the pickles are soft, they are spoiled from the yeast fermentation. Don't use them. Using too weak a salt brine or vinegar solution may cause soft or slippery pickles, as can using moldy garlic or storing the pickles at too warm a temperature.

Why are my pickles floating after canning? ›

Take care to pack them tightly and eliminate air bubbles before processing. Large air pockets will work their way to the top of the jar during boiling – this can loosen your fruit. Susan (a friend from work) tells me her mother placed a piece of rye bread at the top of her pickles to keep them submerged.

ADD Mrs. Wages® Xtra Crunch® granules to sterilized hot jars filled with vegetables and brine just before securing lid. Use ¼ tsp (1.2g) per quart and /s tsp (0.6g) per pint.

A pickle next to a sandwich, alongside charcuterie on a cheeseboard, sliced on top of a hamburger, fried with creamy ranch, and chopped into relish on a hotdog. These classic pickle pairings have stood the test of time, and even the pickle skeptics welcome pickles in these cases.

Alum (potassium aluminum sulfate) is a food additive that is ideal for pickling and canning. It helps create crisp pickled fruits or vegetables.

Salt: The secret to the best cucumber salad is to salt your cucumbers. The salt makes the cucumbers taste better and removes excess water, diluting the dressing. I use sea salt, but any salt will do. Vinegar: I love apple cider vinegar in this dressing, but distilled or white wine vinegar also works nicely.

As its name implies, pickling salt is used for pickling and canning. Salt is essential for pickling when you will be storing your pickles at room temperature for an extended period. The salt brings flavor but more importantly it prevents bacteria from growing in the brine.

Giving your fruit or vegetables a salt bath (covering them in salt in a bowl) before pickling them helps to draw out any excess water they may be holding. It helps to preserve the crisp texture through the pickling process.