Canned Bread & Butter Pickles

Canned Bread & Butter Pickles

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Your Key Ingredient:

NESCO Smart Canner

Grocery Ingredients:

  • 3.5 pounds pickling cucumbers, ends trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch slices
  • 3.5 cups sliced onion
  • 2.5 cups vinegar (5% acidity)
  • 5 cups sugar
  • 3 cups Bread & Butter Pickle Mix

Directions:

  1. Slice the ends off 3.5 pounds pickling cucumbers, ends trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch slices and discard, then cut into 1/2-inch slices.
  2. 3.5 cups sliced onion. Don’t exceed this amount — more onion than this dilutes the brine’s acidity below what’s been tested as safe for this ratio of vinegar to produce.
  3. Combine 2.5 cups vinegar (5% acidity), 2.5 cups sugar, and 0.3 cups Bread & Butter Pickle Mix in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
  4. Pack cucumber and onion slices into clean jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace. Ladle the hot brine over the slices, keeping the same headspace. Run a bubble remover around the inside of each jar, top off with more brine if needed, and wipe the rims clean.
  5. Place the liner pot in the canner and position the canning rack in the bottom. Load the jars in water-bath mode, making sure they’re fully submerged with at least 2 inches of water above the jar tops.
  6. Select the WB/Steam button and set the Pressure Limiting Valve to Exhaust. Press Start (not Pressure Cook) and wait for a steady, continuous stream of steam from the exhaust valve — this typically takes 20 minutes.
  7. Once you see the steady steam stream, press Start again — the processing timer begins automatically. Process pint or quart jars for 10 minutes the tested safe time for this recipe at sea level to 1,000 ft; increase if you’re at higher altitude).
  8. Let the unit rest 25 minutes after processing before turning the lid to the open position.
  9. Cool and check seals: Remove jars and let cool undisturbed on a towel or rack for 12-24 hours.Check that lids have sealed (center doesn’t flex when pressed) before storing at room temperature. Refrigerate any unsealed jars and use those first.

Canning method: Water bath, pints 10 minutes / quarts 10 minutes (0-1,000 ft altitude — increase time at higher elevations).

Recipe courtesy of NCHFP (National Center for Home Food Preservation) Bread and Butter Pickles guidelines