Refrigerate them and give them away for using up in a month or so....
I don't know the recipe but think tehre's enough vinegar and salt that they won't grow botulism....but they may get un crisp.
Linda C

nosnowtn, Chase's pickles do not meet the USDA canning guidelines as they do not have a sufficiently high water to vinegar ratio and they are not water bath processed. However, that method does Canadian guidelines, which are somewhat less stringent than ours.

However, the hot brine in hot jars should have sealed, normally you pack in the pickles in hot jars, add hot liquid brine and then place hot lids on the jars and they'll seal. Canadian rules also allow the sealing of jams and jellies in the same fashion, although the government here recommends against it.

So, the short answer is yes, the jars should have sealed. Most of us know that the recipe doesn't meet the U.S. government standards and have chosen the level of risk we wish to take. The guidelines are just that and each canner assesses the possible danger and takes only the level of risk they are comfortable taking.

The risk with pickles is small, although they are a food that is not reheated, they are eaten cold, so boiling them for safety isn't an option and that does increase the risk somewhat.

At any rate, I'm comfortable making them and eating them, and letting my family eat them. You have to decide for yourself.

Mine have always sealed that way, BTW, and my Dad open kettle canned tomatoes his whole life and they sealed most of the time too. I figure I get about a 10 to 20% fail rate on the seal using that method, which is why I only use it for those pickles, everything else gets a water bath, even jams and jellies.

Annie

I'd probably put them in the fridge and use them up whenever. I suspect the problem was that one of the components wasn't really hot. So, next time make sure the jars, brine and lids are good and hot and they should seal. Especially the jars and brine. You can ruin the seals if you boil them, so just make sure they're quite hot as the recipe calls for them to be done. Try again, I think you'll work it out.

Another fan of Chase's Dills and willing to take the risk.
Mine always seal.
I would refrigerate. I would allow at least 2-3 weeks to let them "pickle" a bit, then start sampling.

Deanna

Sorry for the lack of a quicker response. Thanks everyone. I decided to throw them in the compost, no room in the fridge because right now, my garden is exploding with veggies and melons.
I have been picking a half bushel of cukes every other day, so I will try again.
I have been following all the discussion here and at Harvest for about 7 or 8 years now and know all of the so called risks. There's a new thread going on over there right now. I am only anxious to try them because so many other veteran canners have given good reviews.
Thanks again,
Joan

Hello! My apologies for resurrecting such an old thread, but I searched extensively on Google and couldn't find an answer!

I made these pickles last night (I made them last year too and they turned out great)! However the ones I made last night, most of the jars did not seal. The only differences were that I used larger jars this year (2L jars instead of 1L as my cukes were large and I didn't think I would be able to fit many in a 1L jar), and I increased the salt slightly (I was comparing Chase's recipe to my grandmother's and it was identical, except for a little more salt, so I thought I would try my grandmother's method).

Anyway, 8 of my 12 jars did not seal. Part of the issue may have been that the first few jars I did, I forgot to wipe the rims (but even after I remembered and started wiping, some of those did not seal either). There is no way I can store 8 large jars of pickles in my fridge. Is there a way to re-process pickles that have been open kettle canned? Short of taking everything out of the jars and starting from scratch? I would really appreciate advice ASAP, because if I can save them I need to do it soon. It was around midnight last night when I finished them.

Thank you!!!!

Alissa

irishgirl2-

I realize this response is much too late to be helpful, but would like to point out, the only processes that USDA, the National Center for Home Food Preservation and the University of Georgia, as well as the maker of the jars, have to recommend for half-gallon jars (2-L) are for very acidic fruit juices (and juice only): Apple Juice, Grape Juice.

It is unsafe to use the large jars for anything else due to the problem with heat penetrating the large amount of food in them. The heat penetration is necessary to properly kill bacteria.

-Grainlady

I made a batch this weekend and have a couple of questions before I make some more.

I looked for 3-4" cukes, but mine were probably closer to 4-5". I could only fit 4 into a jar. Does that sound right? Should I have sliced them lengthwise instead?

The recipe calls for fresh dill flower heads. The dill that I bought had HUGE heads. At least, I thought they were huge. Or, is that the norm? Some of them were probably six inches across.

I had three or four jars that did not seal. Not sure what went wrong, because I followed the recipe exactly and made sure everything from the jars to the brine was piping hot. When storing these in the fridge, do they still have the same shelf life as the ones that sealed properly? I've read all about the risk involved in not using a BWB and I'm okay with living on the edge. (grin) But, knowing that some sealed and some didn't, I'm contemplating just storing the whole batch in the fridge.

Thanks for your help!

Any chance someone might be able to answer my questions above?

Thanks a bunch.

Hi, sorry I missed this thread..........

First I have to be straight up, as I always am with this recipe, and say it does not meet US guidelines becasue I do not use a hot water bath. I find that makes them loose their crunch. I've been doing it this way for over 30 years with no issues but I do not want anyone else to do anything they are not comfortable with.

I use #3/4's and get 6 in a jar ......but there are always some larger ones in the mix. For those I go with a fewer number in the jar, I have never cut them in half so I am not at all sure what that would do to the crisp factor....My instincts say it would be OK to place a few cut ones in with whole ones.

If I a have a few that don't pop I store them in the fridge...they last "forever" in the fridge and pickle up nicely.

If you don't have storage space in the fridge I find that emptying the brine into a pot , bringing it back to the boil and resealing WITH NEW LIDS works very well. I only do this the day I can the dills, not a few days latter.

Good luck!