For your other canning questions, check out this link for just some basic info. It's pretty easy once you do it a time or two. Have fun & good luck!

I've canned tomatoes (whole, spaghetti sauce, salsa), cucumber pickles (sweet dills, bread & butter, sweet gherkins, garlic dill spears, and sweet relish), pickled jalapeños, and pickled green beans.


Also do dried tomatoes and bell peppers, and make chile ristras.


The sweet dill pickles were a huge success - people still ask me to make them. Just make bread & butter pickles and add about 1 1/2 teaspoons of dillseed to each quart jar. Really tasty. I use the b&b recipe from an old Farm Journal canning cookbook. Will come back and post it later in case anyone's interested.

I have been canning since I got married 20 years ago. I put up a little over 600 jars last year. Your best bet would be to go to a tru-value or some kind of hardware store and buy yourself a 'Ball Blue Book' The guide to home canning and freezing. probably around $10 now? It is excellent- has tons of recipes and tells you what needs to be 'Water bathed' versus 'Pressure canned'. Also good freezing and food dehydrating tips.

I looked and there is a recipe for 'Brined Dill Pickles' If you'd like it I can type it in a post for you. I have not made them.

Paradisa

Paradisa ... does that recipe call for letting it set in a bucket or crock or something for several days? if so I have found several of those recipes. I just can not remember my grandma having food setting around like that. I know for sure that she cut her corn off of the cob and put it straight into a jar with boiling water and canning salt to make what she called pickled corn. maybe that is what she done to the cucumbers also. I hoped somebody else does that so they could tell me yes that will work. or maybe I am mistaken.

Ok, this recipe is from The Farm Journal Freezing and Canning Cookbook, ©1963. I'll post the recipe as written and underneath will add how I change it.

Sweet Dills Makes 9 pints


4 1/2 qts. dill-size cucumbers
2 large onions
18 heads dill
6 c. vinegar
6 c. sugar
3/4 c. salt
1 1/2 t. celery seeds
1 1/2 t. mustard seeds

• Slice cukes & onions
  
• Put 1 head dill and 2 slices onion into each hot, sterilized jar. Fill jars with cucumber slices; shake jar to pack.
  
• To make syrup, combine vinegar, sugar, salt, celery seeds and mustard seeds; heat to boiling. Pour over cucumber slices.
  
• Add 1 head dill and 1 slice onion at top of jar; seal at once.

What I use:

• Any cukes will work, they don't have to be picklers. If the skins are particularly tough, peel'em.
  
• 3 large hot white onions - 27 slices.
  
• 1 generous teaspoon of dill seed to each jar, put in directly after the cukes..
  
• White vinegar
  
• Granulated white sugar
  
• Regular table salt, although I cut the amount to 1/2 cup.
  
• The second time I made these I added 1 crushed clove of garlic to each jar. Tasty.
  
• I usually add either 2-3 whole cloves or 1-2 whole allspice to each jar.
  
• The last time I made these I added a couple pieces of cinnamon bark to the syrup (with garlic but no cloves or allspice) and that was exceptional. Remove the cinnamon
  before processing.

Wash jars and funnel, if using, in soapy water, rinse well. Follow manufacturer's directions for preparing lids.

Cover washed jars & funnel with warm water in a large kettle. Cover and bring to a boil. Boil 20 minutes. Remove one hot jar at a time when ready to fill.

Fill hot jars to within 1/2" of top with boiling syrup. Make sure cukes are covered by liquid. Wipe off any spill.

Place lids on jars following manufacturer's directions.

Process in boiling water bath by placing filled jars on a rack in a deep kettle.

Cover 2" over the top of jars with boiling water. Keep the water boiling throughout the processing.

Process pint and half-pint jars 20 minutes. Quart jars 30 minutes.

Remove jars from the water bath; do not disturb self-seal lids. Leave metal rings on until jars have cooled.

Cool jars, well separated, on a rack or folded towel away from drafts or cool surfaces.

Sounds complicated, but once you've done it you'll laugh at how easy it is. These pickles are best if you let them set a few days before cracking open.

Also: never reuse the seals (the part that fits directly on top of the jar - it's fine to reuse the screw rings) and never use a jar that has even the slightest flake or chip on the top of the rim.