Bread and Butter Pickles BWB? Grainlady?

15 years ago

Cucumbers, pickling ones, are coming in our next CSA box. I asked for 40 pounds thinking I would just make the recipes we LOVED last year.

Guess what? Can't find them!!!!

So now I am frantically looking for the perfect bread and butter pickle recipe but none of the ones I am finding use a BWB. I don't have space in a fridge to store all these bottles - they have to be shelf stable.

Now I've read that if you BWB bread and butter pickles they lose their crispness and I definitely want crisp pickles.

But I don't want to kill anyone either. So what to do?

Oh, and half the batch will be Sharon's dill Pickles.

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Comments (8)

grainlady_ks
15 years ago
Here you go.... -Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: National Center for Home Food Preservation - Bread and Butter Pickles
annie1992
15 years ago
Ilana, this is the recipe I use from the Ball Blue Book. If you store them in the refrigerator and eat them cold, they are crisper, and Pickle Crisp also helps.

Bread and Butter Pickles
(Ball Blue Book of Preserving)

2 pounds 4 to 6 inch cucumbers, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 pound onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup canning salt
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
1 1/2 cups vinegar

1. Combine cucumber and onion slices in a large bowl, layering with salt.
2. Cover with ice cubes and let stand 1 1/2 hours.
3. Drain, rinse, drain again.
4. Combine remaining ingredients in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil.
5. Add drained cucumbers and onions and return to a boil.
6. Pack hot pickles and liquid into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
7. Remove air bubbles. Put on 2-piece lids.
8. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.
9. Allow 4 to 6 weeks for flavors to develop

* Makes about 4 pints

I like the ginger, but you can leave it out, and you can double this recipe for a canner full. I think the onions are the best part, but I've subbed jalapeno slices for some of the onion and Elery loved them, sweet and hot.

Annie
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When we bought the seeds, I hadn't realized that "Cool Breeze" is considered a burpless, seedless variety. I selected it because it was described as having fruits that set early, a French cornichon type (gherkin) that was pickling size, also great in salads, and best when picked 4-5" long. Since I knew I was going to want to make Linda's recipe again, I thought Linda Lou's recipe or a variation of it might do well with this cuke if I wanted to try to make gherkins or maybe small whole sweet pickles. (I have since come across the NCHFP recipes, which I may use to make 1-2" and/or 3-4" gherkins by picking earlier.) It wasn't until I was posting yesterday that I went back to read the catalog description and learned of its burpless & seedless nature...(apparently they mean when you pick them smaller than 4-5"). I became concerned, because I remember having read one of your postings, Ken, where you mentioned that burpless don't make good pickles. I just hope this batch is an exception. They seemed crunchy enough before processing. No hollow centers, no shrivelling either. Good thing I put a bit of Pickle Crisp into each jar before sealing! These burpless might otherwise get soft sooner than the other cuke varieties and our bottles don't tend to get consumed all that fast. What recipe do you use if you want to make gherkins? I thought it interesting that the NCHFP recipes calls for pricking the cukes with a fork during one of the brining soaks, I figure to let the flavor/vinegar/sugar in. I never noticed any holes in the store-bought gherkins! I'll have to make note of the varieties you're growing. Didn't know there's one called 'Heinz'. How many plants are you growing to be able pick 30 everyday? I thought 30 from my 4 little plants was pretty good and there's still little ones on the nodes I already picked from. Weirdly plentiful, but great if you want to make gherkins! I wish my Kirby's were more plentiful.
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Biggy, Congrats on getting into canning. I just made a batch of Bread and Butters myself and followed the recipe in the Ball Blue Book. Since the recipes are so easy I wouldn't trust any old recipes even though some have been given to me. I'm relatively new as well and the people on this forum are a great help. ~Jeremy Here is a link that might be useful: Sugarloaf Homesteading
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The evidence presented at the link Grainlady provided many years ago is convincing. To wit: "Bread and Butter" is a name given to the pickles by Mrs. Fanning's Pickles, when applying for a trademark. The story, true or not, given by the pickle company is that Mrs. Fanning made them from the cucumbers too small to sell and traded them to the grocer for bread and butter. This sounds potentially apocryphal, though the evidence is clear that the Fannings were the first to sell them, and that they were different from other sweet pickles; also that the recipe had been in the Fanning family for a couple of generations, so while they may have been unusual, they were probably not unique. The contemporary descriptions call them "sweet and sour". Something we'll never find evidence for is the likelihood that "sweet and sour" wasn't trademarkable for pickles, being just a descriptor in common use, so "bread and butter" having a similar assonance, and rhythm (even though different syllables), was put down on the form instead. If so, it would be clever, because bread and butter are a basic part of any old shopping list, so bread and butter pickles implies you should have pickles in your shopping basket as a matter of course. I can definitely see the marketing value of the name. I don't like sweet and sour pickles! Never have! I once accidentally bought a jar of Bubbie's and opened them before realizing. I call them "sugar pickles". They're not sour, just sweet. I like them as an alternative to a cookie. They go extremely well with chestnuts. :)
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Check out this recipe.... -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: National Center for Home Food Preservation
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lyndaluu2
15 years ago
Here's the recipe I use.
I've made these for years and everyone loves them.
Bread and Butter Pickles
3 onions sliced thin
4 qts pickling cukes (approx 24)cut thin 1/4"
Mix together and cook until the sugar dissolves
4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 Tbsp turmeric
1/2 Tbsp celery seed
1/2 Tbsp mustard seed
1/4 cup pickling salt
4 cups white vinegar
Divide the cut cukes and onions into 2 1 qt jars.
DO NOT COOK. Put into refrigerator
Let stand two (2) weeks before using.
Shake the jars twice a day.
Enjoy.

Linda
beachlily z9a
15 years ago
I would like to make these refrigerator pickles, but have one question. Should the jars be sterilized as they are when we use them for canning?
doucanoe
15 years ago
Beachlily, I would definitely sterilize the jars.

Here is my B&B Pickle recipe. It is actually not MY recipe, I got it decades ago from my ex-mother-in-law (rest her soul). She made fabulous canned goods!

Bread & Butter Pickles
(Helen GalbraithÃ¯Â¿Â½s recipe)

5 medium cukes
3 medium onions
1/4 c salt
1 c vinegar
1/2 tsp celery seed
1 c water
1/2 tsp mustard seed
3/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp turmeric

Wash cukes and cut in thin slices. Peel & slice onions, combime with the cukes. Add salt, let stand 2 hours. Drain. Heat vinegar, water, celery seed, mustard seed, dugar , ginger and turmeric to boiling. Add cukes and onions. Boil slowly until tender. While hot, pack into sterilized jars and process 10 minutes in boiling water bath.

Linda
lpinkmountain
15 years ago
I make my B&B pickles like Annie and Linda. The presalting helps with the crispness. This year I'm going to try pickle crisp.
lyndaluu2
15 years ago
I always sterilize my jars before canning anything.
I like to make sure they are really clean.
I also do it for the refrigerator pickles too.

Linda
laceyvail 6A, WV
15 years ago
It is not necessary to sterilize jars if they are going to be processed, unless the recipe, for some reason, directs you to do so. I've never seen a pickling recipe (or any canning recipe) that directs that.

Bread and Butter Pickles BWB? Grainlady?

Comments (8)

grainlady_ks

annie1992

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