Time to Make Some Pickles

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Time to make pickles - Round 1 - We've picked over 20 cucumbers and pickles from our garden. Now it's time to make some pickles. Round one of our pickle making process. Let's go! ​​

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We really enjoy canning vegetables that come directly from our garden. So to take a bunch of cucumbers and pickles and turn them into pickles is great. How do we do it? We'll show you.

set up & prep

Couple things you need to do to set up and getting for your canning. It's a good idea to gather these supplies and ingredients together before you start your process. Pots need to be filled with water and heated. Jars need to be cleaned and sterilized. Knives need to be sharpened. So before we get to slicing and jarring, get your space set up.

​You'll need the following items and ingredients:

Supplies...

• Large pot for hot water bath
• Non-Aluminum pot to mix ingredients
• Whisk or something to stir with
• Pickle Mix or Ingredients (We use a mix that comes with all the ingredients needed. All we add is water, vinegar, and any other special instruction. If you want to use a recipe, we suggest visiting our Pinterest page for some ideas and recipes.)
• Jars, lids, and rings
• Clean cloth & a couple towels
• Canning Funnel
• Stainless steel Jar Lifter
• Jar Wrench (optional)
• Canning Tongs (optional)
• Labels to mark your jars
  
• If you're looking for a starter kit with everything you need to begin canning, click here: Canning Starter Kit.

With all of your supplies gathered, take a few minutes to set up your space. You'll need an area to slices the cucumbers and pickles. You'll want a place to fill jars and a place to rest jars after the hot water bath.

We also suggest you get your water bath ready early. It might take some time to bring the water to a boil.

Step One: Washing

First thing we do is wash the cucumbers and pickles. We fill up one side of our sink with water. Then one by one, with a clean scrubber, we wash the cucumber and pickle. You want to make sure you get any dirt or insects off your cucumbers. Once washed, we set them on a towel to dry.

Step two: slicing

With a sharp knife, slice your cucumbers. We slice our pickles as chips and spears. Those are our favorite ways to eat our pickles. In the past, and probably in one of our future picklings, we'll slice a sandwich cut.

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Canning Supplies

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Step Three: The Mix

Take your ingredients and begin mixing, cooking, and bringing your ingredients to the point that it is ready to be added to the jars. We use Mrs. Wages canning mixes. Almost everything you need is in the mix. Depending on the mix you might have to add vinegar or sugar, so be sure to read the instructions.

step Four: Fill Jars

With the pickles slices and the mix ready, fill the jars. Because we make our pickles for us and for friends, we don't weigh or measure or count how much we put into each jar. We just fill them to the ring lines. The cucumbers will shrink a little, so we try to pack them in. 

Then using your funnel, pour your pickling mix into each jar, leaving space at the top for air and for the jars to seal. Don't fill to the top of the jar. Before applying the lid and ring, take your clean cloth and wipe the edge of the jar, removing any liquid or mix. You will want your jar to seal, so make sure the lip of the jar is clean.

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Step Five: WAter bath

With you water bath boiling and using the jar lifter, carefully place your jars in the water. Leave space  between the jars. Allow the jars to rest in the boiling water for 10 minutes.
When 10 minutes have passed, use your jar lift to carefully remove the jars from the water. 
We will tip the jar to remove any water from the top of the jar, then place the jars to rest.

​You'll want to give your jars a couple hours to cool, seal and rest. Put them in a place where they can rest and not be disturbed. We let our jars rest over night.

Set six: Label & Store

With the jars cooled and sealed, label your jars. You can mark the lids with a marker, or apply a sticker to the jar. Why mark them? Well, you want to remember what's in each jar, especially for you make a variety of flavors or items. For instance, we made kosher dills and bread and butter pickles. But we are make a few other flavors, so marking or labeling will be helpful when we go to grab a jar off the shelf.

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This was only round one of our pickling process. We still have plenty of cucumbers and pickles growing in the garden so we'll need to pickle again soon.

What other flavors should we try? Like we said, we've made kosher dill and bread and butter. We want to make a spicy pickle as well. But what flavors should we make? Let us know in the comments below.

Thanks so much for watching

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