Here are a few tips from Janet Nezon, who gives seminars on home canning, makes at least six or seven different types of pickles each year and says she would make a lot more if she had time. Two of her favorites are pickled peppers and bread-and-butter pickles, but she also experiments with things like pickled radish pods. Here are a few tips:
— To ensure your dill pickles stay crunchy, remove a very thin slice from each end of the cucumbers before covering them with brine.
— Food-filled jars that are to be processed in a water bath for more than 10 minutes do not have to be sterilized first. Heating the jars in the canner and the lids in a separate pot of simmering water is sufficient. Follow the recipe's recommendation.
— "Quick pickles," vinegar-based pickles that you want to eat right away, do not have to be processed in a water bath.
— For safety, it is essential to exactly follow the recipe for pickles intended for long-term storage, but you can get creative with "quick pickles," trying new vegetables and combinations of herbs and spices.
— Jars of pickles make great gifts.
thanks to: http://www.timescolonist.com/life/health/to-be-safe-follow-exactly-recipe-for-pickles-intended-for-long-term-storage-1.601609
