I do relish and add fresh chopped onions. I mix some of the relish with mustard for hot dogs and some relish is mixed with ketchup for burgers. In the future, you may want to add the calcum chloride to your jars prior to filling. This food grade ingredient is what is used in some canned tomatoes to help them stay firm. Ball also offered this a Pickle Crisp, but has since dropped it from their products. Bulk Foods has it and I bought a big jar that should last me several years. Since using it, I have had very good luck with B&B as well as sweet mixed and dills, that stay a bit crisper longer. Because I also use full strength vinegar with no added water, the brines are much more acidic and need less processing time. You chould stay with the long canning time ina BWB, but its just too much heat for too long, and actually cook the cukes a little. Also, when using the cukes, make sure they are as fresh as possible. Nothing fresher than picking a few dozen, and preparing them for pickles within minutes of picking. Sometimes I have seen sweet type pickles used in sweet and sour sauces.

Very small pieces in potato salad or tuna salad?

Melissa

Cut up in any kind of salad.

Yep, we had the same problem once. We ate a LOT of macaroni salad that year LOL. I'm too Scottish to throw anything away.

My mom used to make a favorite dish of hers - peas, pickles and cheese with mayo. Perhaps this would be a good use for your softies.

I don't eat that particular salad very much anymore - not that I didn't like it - but she over-used it quite often (sorry mom - no offense intended).

Anyway - She used canned peas - (for one thing), I prefer using frozen small (petite) sized peas, steamed till tender. Cut chunks of a good cheddar cheese in half inch sized pieces and add, then the pickles - mix with mayo.

Actually not too bad - (if you weren't raised on it - LOL).

Bejay

I make my own refrigerated pickled beets with the juice left from processed soft pickles (B&B, dill, kosher, or sweet) whether they were mushy or we ate all the good stuff - there is always leftover juice. Buy a can of plain sliced beets (or use a pressure canned pint jar if you are so lucky) and pour off their juice (which can be added to stew if you are thrifty sort like me). Put beets in a sterile glass jar and pour strained pickle juice to cover them. An option is to add some chopped or thinly sliced onion. Cap and put in refrigerator for 2 to 14 days. Begin eating after the 2nd day. You can also do this with hard boiled eggs but they should not be eaten after more than 3 days from the time you make them up.

As for the mushy pickles? Compost or hide in food like those ideas posted above.

BTW I did try making brine like I would for B&B's and using that to refrigerate-pickle the beets, but they did not taste anyway near as good as the leftover juice method.

Nancy the nancedar

I know you said you don't need any more relish but here are a few extra uses of relish that might use more up.

Make your own tartar sauce with mayo or miracle whip and relish.

I make deviled eggs using miracle whip and sweet relish along with some other spices/salt and pepper added in. Most people find them quite different but like them anyway.

I like the relish with mustard and relish with katsup ideas.

For using up the soft pickles I suppose you might need to chop them up over green salads a bunch.

Good Luck

I definitely need some calcium chloride for the next round of pickles. These are from 06 so it's not too surprising that they're mushy! I cut my 2008 bread and butter pickles into thicker slices and ended up with a texture more to my liking. So far I've pureed one jar of them and mixed with catsup and some additional spices to make sloppy joes. They were okay but a *little* on the "weird" side. My younger son said, "Hey, what's this whitish-greenish seed looking thing??" (I think it was a mustard seed!) and my elder son said, "I don't know, but I smell pickles!" LOL!

Thanks for all the suggestions for ways to use these. The peas, pickles, and cheese salad sounds kind of, how shall I say....yucky! :-D I appreciate the idea, however, and just might find myself intrigued enough to try it some day! I don't really do macaroni salad, but potato salad is a thought, as are the deviled eggs. I have chopped up sweet pickles and put them into tuna salad in the past, so that could be another option. I've never eaten sweet pickles on a green salad--could be interesting! The tip about pickling the beets with the leftover brine sounds good, since I also have a couple pints of home canned beets lurking in the closet!

Gee - sorry you don't like the sound of peas, pickles and cheese, but that's OK. I have a couple of grandkids - with similar tastes - but at least you know how your cooking rates - no "nice guys" would be so candid - LOL.

You might also try using the brine to marinate thin slices of red onion. This works much better with dilly brine, but if all else fails - well why not "go for it."

I guess somebody beat me to it with the Jack-in-the-Box type secret sauce idea (on burgers). It seems to be mayo, ketchum, chopped onion and chopped pickle - but someone already suggested it I guess.

Really hate to see those things go to compost, but ya gotta do, what ya gotta do - sometimes.

Just my 2 c's.

I add a little dry mustard powder to my potato salad. It gives it that missing 'something'.