Home canning has been a part of our lives for as long as I
can remember. When the summer was over, the harvest was
complete and preserved in our family cellar I loved to be
the one to give the final count on the fruit of our labors
- peaches, pears, applesauce, beets, green beans,
strawberry jam, and....PICKLES! I loved the pickles.
One particular winter day I took a walk down to the cellar.
I glanced around the room, it was loaded with beautifully
home canned fruit and vegetables right from our family
garden and orchard. But...I had my mind set on one thing.
I carefully scanned the shelves - Ah ha I found what I was
looking for -- a bottle of dill pickles I had canned myself.
As the bottle came off the self, my mouth started to water.
Those pickles looked so tempting, I couldn't wait to get
the lid off the bottle.
I finally made it to the kitchen and popped off the lid -
immediately the smell of those home canned pickles wafted
through the room - I couldn't wait any longer. Out came
the biggest pickle and I sunk my teeth into it.
Surprise! My joy quickly turned to despair when my teeth
squished into a soggy dill pickle - not even worth eating!
Almost weeping I ran to mother. What bad thing had
happened to my pickles?
With a twinkle in her eye and a half smile, she started
quizzing me down: "How long did the cucumbers wait before
you pickled them?" "What size were the cucumbers that you
used?" "Did you get them right out of the hot water bath
when it started to boil?" Etc.
After playing detective for a couple of minutes, she
laughed and gave me these important keys:
3 Family Secrets for Crispy Home Canned Pickles:
1. Harvest your cucumbers early in the morning and pickle
them within 24 hours. The quicker the better. If you
start with fresh, crisp, firm cucumbers you will have a
better pickling experience.
2. Don't let the cucumbers get too big. Smaller cucumbers
become better pickles.
3. When you process the bottles of pickles - make sure you
DON'T over cook them. The less they are cooked, the more
crisp and crunchy they will be.
Believe me, I learned a valuable lesson - one I never
forgot! Next time I canned my dill pickles I followed
these guidelines religiously. My dream came true - to bite
down into a crispy, crunchy, mouth-watering home canned
baby dill pickle
I wanted to share these family secrets with you so your
pickling experience can be a successful and happy one.
Good luck fellow pickle lovers!
----------------------------------------------------
Looking for home canning/food preservation ideas and
recipes?
Go to http://www.easypreserve.com for FREE recipes and
tips! Plus other great home canning/food preservation
supplies. You can even find my mother's pickle recipe
there!
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