Ankeny Hill Farm

12 acres in Jefferson, Oregon. Grass fed beef, horse riding lessons and training, dairy goats, goat meat, chickens & exciting adventures!

Follow Us!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Home
  • Adventures
  • Farm Store
    • Farm Collection
    • Oregon Pastured Chicken, Organic Fed- May 2023 Deposit
  • Recipes
  • Home Canning
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy

DIY Bread and Butter Pickles-Canned or Refrigerator

September 27, 2018 By admin Leave a Comment

Bread and Butter Pickles Recipe

I’ve always loved bread and butter pickles. They are my favorite pickles, especially for putting on hamburgers. This is our 3rd summer here on the farm, and the first time doing some canning. My mom bought a water bath canner last month, so we’ve been canning pickles galore! We have quite a few dill pickles canned since those are the simplest, but I’ve also been mixing in some bread and butter pickles as well.

To tell you the truth, I am not a huge pickle fan, aside from bread and butter pickles. I’ll eat them, but they aren’t on the top of my list unless on a hamburger or sandwich lol. However, since we have so many pickles now, I am going to be eating them more! They are healthy, so there’s that!

Bread and butter pickles take a little more time than regular dill, but they are so worth it and sooooo delicious. The cool thing about pickles is that you can make them for the refrigerator too so you don’t have to bother with canning if you only want smaller batches. This goes for bread and butter pickles as well!

If you don’t want to can these pickles, you can just do the recipe as stated, but leave out the water bath part. Just put them in jars with lids, let them cool on the counter and then stick them in the refrigerator. Let them sit in the refrigerator for at least a couple days or so before eating them for the best flavor.

Let’s get started!

First you’ll need to get your cucumbers sliced up. About 6lbs of cucumbers should fill 4 quart jars. Slice up about 4 medium onions as well.

Slice Cucumbers

Mix together the onions and sliced cucumbers in a large bowl or pan. Pour 1/2 cup pickling salt over the cucumbers and onions and carefully mix so that everything is covered in the salt. (I use sea salt, but you can also use Kosher salt. Do not use regular table salt because the additives in it will turn the pickles a dark color)

Now you’ll need to cover the pickle/onion mixture with a clean towel and put ice all on the top of it and let it chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours. This will help keep the pickles crisp (so I’ve read, I’m not entirely convinced about this part!) Make sure to not let the towel drape over the sides of the pan because when the ice starts melting, it will soak up the water and drip all over your refrigerator…. Ask me how I know! lol

Put Ice on cucumbers to chill

When the 4 hours is up, put the cucumber and onion mixture in a colander and rinse well. Let it sit to drain and then rinse again and let sit to drain again while you prepare the canner and jars.

Rinse cucumber and onion slices

Now, get your canning jars washed and sterilized. You can do this by running them through the dishwasher, or you can wash them and then set them with some water in the canner and boil for a few minutes. I sterilize mine in the canner. This is also good so that when you are ready to pack the jars with the pickles, the jars will be nice and warm already.

Sterlize Canning Jars in Boiling Water
Sterilize your jars in the water bath canner and boil for about 5 min. Then turn the heat down and let them sit in the hot water until you are ready to pack the jars with pickles. See that green jar grabber? That is a must to have and you can get one here: Jar Grabber (Amazon.com link)

So of course, in order to sterilize the jars in the water bath canner, you’ll need to get that thing filled with water about 3/4 full. Set it on the burner on high and put the lid on. You’ll want to get the canner going just before, or as soon as you take the cucumbers out of the refrigerator because it will take quite awhile to get to boiling.

You’ll also want to sterilize the lids and rings at this time. Just stick them in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Then I just turn the burner off and let them sit there until I’m ready to use them.

Sanitize Canning Lids in Boiling Water

Once you’ve set the canning jars in the boiling water to sterilize, you’ll want to get the brine ready. Use a 4 quart pot and pour in 2 1/2 cups of white distilled vinegar

White vinegar for pickle brine

2 cups of Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar for pickle brine

Add 4 1/2 cups sugar. I know, it seems like a lot, but bread and butter pickles are sweet! This is basically making a thin syrup and it’s so yummy!

Sugar for bread and butter pickle brine

Next add 2tbsp mustard seeds…. I don’t understand why the store doesn’t sell mustard seeds in a bigger container! Look at that…. It’s tiny 🙁 I think I may try growing my own mustard seeds next year.

McCormick Yellow Mustard Seed
Add Yellow Mustard Seed to Pickle Brine

2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper. You can add less if you like, but I find this amount is just right to give it that tang. I don’t like very spicy foods, and this does not make the pickles too spicy, just tangy.

Add the crushed red pepper to the pickle brine

1 1/2 teaspoons of celery seeds

Add celery seeds to pickle brine

Cut two 1 inch pieces of a cinnamon stick and add that to your brine. That’s about 2/3 of a whole cinnamon stick

 An inch of cinnamon stick for pickle brine

I just LOVE these colors!

Add 2/3 Cinnamon Stick to Pickle Brine

Next add 12 allspice berries and about 1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice

Add 12 allspice berries to pickle brine

Add 12 whole cloves plus 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves

Add 12 Whole cloves to pickle brine

And last, but not least, add 1 teaspoon of Turmeric

Add Turmeric to Pickle Brine

Doesn’t it just look beautiful? I love the colors and the smell! It smells like Christmas 😉

Bread and Butter Pickle Brine

Bring this brine/syrup to a boil and then add your pickle and onion mixture to the hot brine. Bring it back to a boil and then turn off the heat.

Add cucumbers and onions to brine

Take your jars out of the canner with the
Jar Grabber (Amazon.com link) , dumping the hot water back into the canner and set them on a towel on the counter.

Use a slotted spoon and fill the jars with the hot cucumbers and onions to about 1 inch from the top of the jars.

Fill canning jars with pickles
Filled pickle jars

Once the jars are filled, pour the pickle brine/syrup into each jar about 1/2 inch from the top of the jars. I like to take the cinnamon sticks out and let them cool a minute and then cut them up and stick a piece of cinnamon stick in each jar as well.

Use a butter knife to stick down the sides of the jars. Carefully use an up and down motion, going around each side of the jar to get the air bubbles out. If there’s any extra brine left, you might top off the jars if they sank down some after getting the air bubbles out.

Now that the jars are all filled with the pickles and brine, wipe the tops of the jars with a clean damp cloth or paper towel and put the lids and rings on and place them in the boiling water bath canner.

Make sure the water covers the tops of the jars at least an inch (that is the current recommendation). Bring the water back to a boil and let boil for 15min. or longer depending on your altitude.

Put bread and butter pickle jars in water bath canner

When the pickles are done processing, pull them out with your jar lifter and set them on a dish towel on the counter to cool, making sure they don’t touch each other. You should hear the beautiful sound of lids popping shortly as they seal. After the jars are cooled, you can check that they’ve sealed by pressing down on each lid. If a lid pops back up, then it is not sealed and you’ll want to put that jar into the refrigerator.

Canned Bread and Butter Pickles

I hope you give this bread and butter pickle recipe a try. It is delicious! You’ll want to let the pickles set for about a month before opening them, so I’ve heard, for best flavor.


Filed Under: Canning Vegetables, Home Canning, Uncategorized Tagged With: cucumbers, pickles

Canning Plums-Delicious Spiced Plum Recipe

September 20, 2018 By admin Leave a Comment

We’ve lived here on the farm for 2  years now. When we moved here, the plum tree that is here was still young and small. We got a few plums the first year, a bit more last year, but this year the tree was “plum” full so I decided to try canning them. We will be pruning the tree this year so that hopefully next year it will grow more full and wide instead of tall, and hopefully we’ll get even more  plums (unless its an off year because of pruning 🙁

What to do with all those plums?

I had thought about making jam, but that’s a lot of plum jam and we just don’t eat much of it anyway even with 3 boys. So, I decided we should just try canning the firmer plums whole and the softer ones I will turn into jam.

This is the first year I’ve actually canned anything myself, so of course this is the first time I’ve canned plums! I used a basic recipe for canning plums and added a few spices to it, not knowing how it would turn out.  If you’re gonna jump in you might as well jump all in!!

I’ll give it away though…. These canned plums with the spices added taste delicious! They taste like Christmas lol

Speaking of jumping in, lets get to the recipe!

Spiced Canned Plum Recipe-Canning Plums

Step 1- Wash The Plums

Canning plums is so easy! First pick your plums, wash them and pull off any stems. Pick out the firmer plums for canning. Plums that are fairly soft can be eaten or used for jam or whatever else you can think of.

Washing the purple plums

Step 2- Prepare Your Canning Jars

Next, get your quart jars ready. Wide mouth jars are best for canning whole plums. It’s just easier to get them in and out of the jar and you can fit a couple more in than you can with narrow mouth jars. If you don’t have wide mouth quart jars, that’s ok, just use what you have.

To get your jars ready, make sure you’ve washed them in the dishwasher, or if you don’t have a dishwasher, scrub them really well with hot soapy water.  Next, get your water bath canner kettle filled  about 2/3 full with water, cover with the lid and bring it to a boil. This is going to take awhile, so it’s something you could get started before washing the jars if you like.

Using a Ball Canning Jar to can the plums

Once the canner is boiling, go ahead and use your handy jar grabber thingy (canning jar lifter) and place 3 quart jars into the boiling water on their sides so the water can get inside them and just leave them in there for a couple minutes to sterilize.

Sanitize Jars in Boiling Water

At this time you can also get your rings and lids ready by putting them in a small pot of boiling water. I just set them in the pot of water, bring it to a boil and then turn it off once it’s boiling. The lids can sit in the hot water until you are ready to put them on the jars.

Sanitize Canning Lids in Boiling Water

Now that your jars are sterilized, pull them out of the canner with the jar grabber and carefully dump the hot water out of them back into the canner. If you need to sterilize more jars, go ahead and place some more in there after you take the first ones out.

Step 3- Prepare The Canning Brine

Time to get the brine ready! I used a 4:1 ratio for the sugar and water. So add 4 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar to a cooking pot.

Add sugar to the plum brine

Then add your spices. I used cloves, allspice and anise seed. Bring this brine to a boil and stir, making sure the sugar is fully dissolved.

Add Spices to the plum brine

Step 4- Fill The Canning Jars with Plums and Brine

While your brine is coming to a boil you can start filling your jars with plums. I found that anywhere from 10-12 purple plums fit per jar. Leave about 1 inch from the top of the jars. Be sure not to pack them too tight as you don’t want to squish them!

fill the jars with whole plums

Now that the plums are in the jars, go ahead and begin filling the jars with the hot brine, allowing some of the spices to go into each jar as well. Fill to about 1 inch from the top of the jars.

Wipe the top of each jar with a clean damp cloth (where the lids will sit and around the threads since they might be sticky). Then go ahead and place your lids and then tighten the rings on each jar.

Plums in jars ready for the canner

Step 5- Canning Plums in The Water Bath Canner

Place the jars in the water bath canner. Be sure the water covers the jars by about an inch. You may need to add more water, but make sure to add hot water so it doesn’t cool the canner down too much (if you have to add more water, wait until it starts boiling again before placing the jars into the canner). After placing the jars in the canner, bring replace the lid. Bring the water back to a boil and leave the jars to process in the canner for 25 minutes. Be sure to set your timer!

Canning plums in a Water Bath Canner

Once the time is up, use your jar grabber to take the jars out and set them on a dish towel on the counter with space between them to cool. After they have cooled, press the top of each lid to be sure they have all sealed. If you press the lid and it pops back up, the jar did not seal and you’ll need to put it in the fridge. I would not try to reprocess it in the canner.

Step 6- Store Your Canned Plums and Enjoy!

If all went well and they’re all sealed, then you can store your home canned plums for later use, whether to just eat out of the jar, or use in a recipe that calls for canned plums. Enjoy!!

Storing spiced plums-Home Canning Pantry

Canning Whole Plums

  • 4 quart Canning Jars
  • 4.5 lbs Purple plums
  • 4 cups Water
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 12 pieces Whole Allspice (Optional)
  • 12 pieces Whole cloves (Optional)
  • 1/2 tsp Anise seed (Optional….can also use Star Anise as well)
  • 1 stick Cinnamon (Optional (if you use cinnamon, you can cut it into fourths and add to each jar before putting the lids on)
  1. Fill water bath canner 3/4 full with water. Turn stove top on high

  2. While waiting for canner to boil, wash plums and remove stems

  3. Place lids and rings in boiling pot of water to sanitize, then turn off and let sit until you are ready to use them.

  4. Wash jars thoroughly. Once the canner water begins to boil, place jars 3 at a time into the canner on their sides so the water can get inside them. Leave to sanitize a couple of minutes, then pull them out with the jar lifter and set on a dish towel.

  5. Once the jars are sanitized, you can begin filling them with the plums. 10-12 plums should fit in each jar. Leave 1 inch space from the top of the jar. Do not press them down as this could squish them.

  6. Add the water, sugar and spices (if using) to a pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn off the stove top and pour the hot brine into the jars. Be sure to leave 1 inch space from the top of the jar.

  7. Wipe the tops of the jars and around the threads with a clean, damp cloth. Put the lids on and tighten the rings.

  8. Set the filled jars into the water bath canner and bring it back to a boil. You might need to add more water to be sure the tops of the jars are covered by 1 inch of water. Once the water is boiling again, set the timer for 20min. After 20min. , pull the jars out of the canner with the jar lifter and set on a dish towel on the counter, not allowing the jars to touch.

  9. Let cool. Once the jars are cool, check that the lids have sealed by pressing down on each lid. If the center of the lid pops back up, it did not seal and you will need to put that jar in the refrigerator.

Side Dish
canned fruit, canned plums, canning, canning plums, how to can plums, spiced plums

Filed Under: Canning Fruit, Home Canning Tagged With: canned goods, plums

Products

  • Goat Sketch Mug 11oz White $14.00
  • Wake Up Rooster Mug 11oz White $14.00
  • “Autumn Beauty” Tough Cases Horse Phone Case $26.57
Snickerdoodle Frappuccino Recipe

Snickerdoodle Frappuccino -Blended Coffee

Bread and Butter Pickles Recipe

DIY Bread and Butter Pickles-Canned or Refrigerator

Why I’m Quitting The Chicken Egg Business

Copyright © 2023 · Outreach Pro On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in