I wouldn't reduce the salt. It's leaching out juices (and potential bitterness). However, you could rinse the slices then drain once the brining period has elapsed. I don't think you're going to find the pickles are salty in flavor but if you have dietary concerns about sodium level, that would be a good way to reduce it. As you can see, the recipe I posted, with approximately 18 cups of product yields 7 pints. The recipe you posted has about 50% more than that (more onions and the green pepper) so I'd guess you'd end up with about a dozen pints, give or take. One concern I have with the recipe you posted is that it has more veggies but the same amount of syrup as the one I posted. If I were making it, I'd double the syrup. I keep thinking as written it has the potential to tend to the dense and drier end. I hope this helps. Carol

Flash drives help to save this stuff, instead of saving to floppy disks. Sorry you lost the recipes, but for me, I usually do things more by taste so if the flavor isn't there, I can't blame a recipe. Sometimes people don't seem to taste what they are making and the end result is quite a surprise if it isn't going to taste good. Maybe you put your recipes in a storage box where your canning supplies are, or maybe its in a box with some canning jars.. After I use any recipes, I usually put the books back in my bookcase for the next time. Lots of things I make are from memory anyway, and so I don't have to refer to recipes much anymore. The old simple way of a pinch of this a dash of that, and just dump in the vinegar and salt to taste and you have a pickle. Not sure where the B&B term came from, but it may be that it was because of the yellow color and sweet flavor. Now that I make them with Splenda, I find that I can enjoy more without all that sugar. Splenda, does NOT measure the same cup for cup as sugar, so never use 5 pounds of Splenda in place of 5 pounds of sugar. I usually get the same sweeteness with ONLY a cup or two of Splenda to the 5 pounds of sugar needed.

There isn't a ratio to worry about since it is pure vinegar. It is however much of each you want. We like mostly onions but want just a few sweet peppers for flavoring and color so I mentioned the 1-2 cups of peppers. If you want some hot peppers too no problem. Just make sure it is 5% vinegar and don't dilute the vinegar with any other liquids. You can pickle just about anything in straight vinegar. Sweet peppers, hot peppers, onions, garlic, etc. So it can be all peppers or all onions 1/2 and 1/2 peppers and onions or what ever mix of them you wish. If this were a water diluted vinegar recipe like many other pickling recipes it would be a different matter all together and you wouldn't be able to trade either peppers or onions for cukes. But since it isn't diluted the ratio of peppers to onions isn't a safety issue. OK? Dave

Actually, the best way to deal wit this would be to either use a Ball prepackaged Bread & Butter pickle mix, or one of the same mixes offered by Mrs. Wages. Zucchini isn't going to end up as crisp as cucumbers though, as they are less dense compared to a much more watery cucumber. These mixes have the necessary seasonings and salt, and you add your own sugar. Essentually the bread & butter pickles are usually slices, and are seasoned with mustard seeds, celery seeds, tumeric (for the yellow color), salt, sugar (or your own sweetener preference), vinegar, and water. Very basic... I like to add a few pieces of dried sweet red pepper flakes to the jars prior to filling with the cuke slices (or in your case the zuke slices). In mine, they are sliced with a crinkle cutter which gives them a nice ripple texture. In the last hour, I just made 8 quarts of the same thing, but instead of the B&B mix, I used a Kosher dill mix, and added a few whole peppercorns to each quart, as well as a couple of cloves of garlic cut up, and a few pieces of dried sweet red pepper pieces (for color), along with a few green and brown dill seed head pieces. In your case, a few mustard seeds and celery seeds added to each jar. The end result is a decent B&B you can enjoy. If you plan to make these using an alternative to regular sugar, the use of Splenda makes them very tasty and I find that I don't need the several pounds of sugar needed, as just a cup of Splenda will sweeten these just as much (has something to do with the vinegar reacting with the Splenda that makes it stronger sweetening power). Your taste goversn the sweetness, and if you do use Splenda, start out with about half a cup of the 'puffed up' type, and you will soon realize that it offers you quite a lot of sweetening power without getting cloyingly sweet. Enjoy.. With this method, there is no presalting, you just cold pack the jars and pour in the boiling brine, cap, and process, quarts for 10 minutes, pints for 5 minutes, this is, according to the "quick process" mentioned on the Mrs. Wages pickle packages.