Old-fashioned Bread & Butter Pickles

These crisp, tangy old-fashioned bread and butter pickles strike just right balance between sweet and sour. Perfect for burgers, sandwiches, picnics, or simply snacking.

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• What's the Story Behind this Recipe?
• What Goes into this Recipe
• How to Make Bread & Butter Pickles
• FAQs & Expert Tips
• Related Recipes
• Old-fashioned Bread & Butter Pickles

What's the Story Behind this Recipe?

I grew up in a family of canners and picklers. Every year during pickling season, we made Pop's dill pickles, and more often than not, a few batches of bread and butter pickles as well.

Bread & butter pickles are a type of sweet pickle made in a mixture of vinegar, sugar, and spices. Mr B and I have been perfecting our spin on this old-fashioned bread and butter pickle recipe for years now, and we love the inclusion of onions and peppers in the pickle mix.

Tangy and vibrant, you will find that these crisp pickle chips to be more balanced than traditional "sweet" pickles; especially the mass-produced, sticky-sweet ones you buy at the store. These are the pickles that will convert the pickle-haters in your life (if anything will).

What Goes into this Recipe

Ingredient Notes & Substitutions

★ Cucumbers: Use the freshest pickling cucumbers you can find. Cucumbers begin losing moisture immediately after they are picked from the vine. Pickling cucumbers should be firm, bright green, and about 4-6 inches(max) in length. 

If you don't grow your own pickling cucumbers, visit your local farmers' market or contact your local farm association to find a cucumber farmer in your area. We almost always order our cukes ahead of time, because they disappear so fast during pickling season.

Do not use cucumbers from the grocery store. They are too large, are filled with thick seeds, and are covered with a packing wax that prevents the pickling liquid from permeating the cucumber.

★ Pickling salt: Pickling salt, also known as canning salt, is a pure granulated salt (sodium chloride), without any anti-caking agents or additives. Finely textured, it dissolves more quickly that most other salts, and does not cloud.

Do not use table salt or sea salt in place of pickling salt. If you need a substitute for pickling salt, use the same weight of kosher salt. (Pickling salt and kosher salt measure differently.)

★ Onions: For these pickles, we recommend using medium sweet onions.

★ Peppers: We recommend using small sweet peppers, although full-size peppers will also work.

Spicy Bread & Butter Pickles: We always make at least one batch of spicy pickles. We do this by simply adding a sliced jalapeño or two to the pepper mix. If you really like it spicy, add a Serrano or even a habanero pepper.

★ Apple cider vinegar: Use standard 5% cider vinegar (the standard acidity range for most vinegars you buy in the store).

★ White vinegar: Use standard 5% white vinegar.

★ Spices: Be sure to use fresh spices: this can dramatically affect the flavor of the pickles.

All spices have a shelf-life. Whole spices, like celery seeds, mustard seeds, and cloves, will last 3-4 years. Ground spices last only 2-3 years.

★ Ice: We recommend using cocktail ice. Even better, if you have a Sonic nearby, get some ice there. They sell it in bags at a very reasonable price, and it is perfect for pickling!

★ Grape leaves: These are optional, but after many years of canning pickles, I always include them in all my pickles, sweet or dill.

Conveniently, grape leaves are abundant during the pickle-canning season. Find them at your local vineyard, farmers' market, or even your neighbor's backyard. Do not use jarred grape leaves.

Grape leaves release tannins which inhibit the enzymes that make pickles soft, helping your pickles to stay crisp. Some picklers believe that removing the blossom end of the cucumbers makes the addition of grape leaves unnecessary, but I'm not not one of them.

Equipment

★ Jars: You can use any pint or pint-and-a-half (i.e., 24-ounce) jar for canning bread and butter pickles. (My favorite size jar for canning pickles is a 24-ounce wide mouth, straight side mason jar.)

We do not recommend canning bread and butter pickles in quart jars, because the processing time is much longer and it cooks the pickles too much, making them mushy.

★ Lids & rings: Use new lids. Clean rings can be reused, but check for dents and rust as they can prevent the jar from sealing properly.

★ Canner: You will need a water-bath canner with a canning rack and a lid.

★ Canning tools: There are lots of fancy canning tools these days, but the ones that you must have are (1) a funnel, and (2) a jar lifter for safely lowing and lifting the jars. in and out of the canner.

A lid lifter is nice to have. You can also get a bubble remover, but a chopstick will do the same job just as well.

★ Stockpot: You will need a stockpot that can hold at least 6 quarts (24 cups).

★ Colander: You will need a colander large enough to hold all of the cut vegetables at once.

How to Make Bread & Butter Pickles

If this is our first experience canning, or you haven't canned in awhile, you may want to check out this article on water bath canning at the National Center for Home Food Preservation website.

Prepare the Vegetables

• Cucumbers: Wash cucumbers to remove any dirt and debris. Remove the blossom end of each cucumber. (The blossom end contains enzymes that will make your pickles go soft.)

Slice each cucumber into ¼-inch rounds, using either a straight or waffle cut.

• Onions: Peel the onions, and slice from pole to pole (root to stem), about ⅛-inch thick.

Cutting the onions this way prevents them from breaking down too much during cooking.

• Peppers: Slice small peppers horizontally about ⅛-inch thick, as you would jalapeños when making nachos.

If you are using larger peppers, cut them into ⅛-inch by 1-inch ribbons.

Ice the Vegetables

Combine the sliced cucumbers, onions, and peppers in a large bowl or stockpot. Sprinkle ½ cup of pickling salt over the top, cover with ice and just enough water to make it begin to feel slushy, and let it stand for about 3 hours. (If you can fit in into your refrigerator, even better.)

Prep Canner, Jars, and Lids

Fill the canner about half full with water and set on high heat. Bring the water-bath to a simmer while you prepare the pickles for canning.

Prepare canning jars, lids, and rings for use by cleaning them in warm water.

When we are canning, we usually just put everything in the dishwasher on a rinse cycle (no soap!), and let them stay warm until we are ready to use them.

You never want to put hot liquid into a cold jar, or a cold jar into a hot water-bath. If you don't have a dishwasher in which to keep the jars warm, put the lids on the jars (do not tighten!) and rest them on the canning rack above the water while it heats up.

Make the Syrup (i.e., Brine)

In a stockpot, combine sugar, mustard seed, celery seed, whole cloves, ground turmeric, and vinegars. Heat to a boil, and then reduce the heat to a simmer.

Using a colander, drain and rinse the cucumber mixture under cold water.

We usually rinse the cucumber mix by draining it in a colander, then dumping the colander into a roasting pan, adding more water and draining it again.

Add the drained cucumber mixture to the stockpot with the pickling brine, and heat just long enough to return it to a simmer.

Pack the Jars

If you are using grape leaves, line the bottom of each warm jar with one or two leaves.

Using a canning funnel, ladle the hot pickle and syrup mix into warm, prepared jars, leaving a ½-inch headspace. Make sure all of the vegetables are submerged under the pickling syrup.

Use a chopstick or plastic knife to remove any bubbles. If necessary, add more pickle-mix to maintain the ½-inch headspace. 

Wipe each jar rim with a wet paper towel or clean, wet cloth. Center a lid and ring on each jar and firmly finger-tighten. (Do not over-tighten.)

Process Pickles

Process both pint and 24-ounce jars in a 180° - 185°F (82° - 85°C) water bath for 15 minutes. 

Using a jar lifter, carefully place jars in the canning rack, and then lower the rack into the hot water bath. There should be at least one inch of water over the tops of the jars. Add more water if necessary.

Return canner to high heat, cover, and quickly bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat slightly and process for 15 minutes. (Start timing after the water returns to a simmer; 180° - 185°F | 82° - 85°C.)

After the processing time is over, remove the canner from the heat and remove the canner lid. Carefully raise the canning rack out of the water (use pot holders!) and then wait 5 minutes before removing the jars from the canner.

Use the jar lifter to carefully remove the jars from the canning rack and place them on a towel on the counter. Allow the hot jars to rest until completely cooled before storing.

Once the jars have cooled, test the seals. Store jars in a cool, dark location.

Bread and butter pickles can be eaten after 24 hours; however, they are best after 4-6 week, when the flavors have had a chance to mingle and mature.

FAQs & Expert Tips

Spicy Bread & Butter Pickles

To make spicy pickles, simply add a sliced jalapeño or two to the peppers in the mix. If you want them to be very spicy, add a Serrano or even a habanero pepper. You can also add some red chili flakes to the pickling brine.

Related Recipes

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