I’ve been sitting on this post for a couple days now. This is at least my great-grandmother’s recipe, however it may be older, and I was feeling a bit iffy about sharing. Because this is a family recipe, it may not be approved my canning regulations, however my family has been canning these pickles for several generations and no one has gotten botulism. Before you can, make sure you are familiar with the process of canning. You have to make sure you get every step otherwise the jar may not seal and you’ll have lots of pickles to eat in such a short time. But when you do follow the steps, most jars do seal. To tell if a jar sealed, you check to see if the lid pops when you push the center of it.
These are sweet pickles due to the sugar in the mixture. When canning, I recommend using 2 of one color pepper and 1 of the other color bell pepper. The red and yellow add more color to the mixture and they don’t taste any different then the green. When you are heating the mixture, it can be helpful to use a fork to try the cucumbers. This will help in being able to identify when the pickles are done and need to be remove from the heat. You don’t want the pickles too crisp or too soggy. I did a double batch and ended up getting 16 1/2 jars, with 15 jars sealed. One jar was dropped when being removed from the canner and the top broke off when it hit the counter. The counter was clean so we could salvage the pickles, but you can’t re-can, so they joined the 1/2 can in the fridge.
- Quarter and slice 8 medium cucumbers. Core and dice 3 red/yellow bell peppers. Dice 4 medium onions. Add all diced veggies into a large stockpot.
- In the stockpot, add 1 tsp ground mustard, 2 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp turmeric, 4 tsp salt, 3 cups sugar, and 2 cups apple cider vinegar.
- Place over medium high heat. Stir often and heat to a boil, but do not boil. Fill a large water bath canner 1/2 with water and heat over high heat. In a small saucepan, add your lids and place over medium high heat.
- Place mixture into heated and sterile jars. Leave 1/2 inch heat space. remove bubbles by running a metal knife around the outer edge. Wipe off the lip and threads of the jar. Add warmed lid on lip, then hand tighten jar rings.
- Place filled and sealed jars into your water bath canner. Drop into boiling water, cover with lid, and let can for 10 minutes.
- Lift jars out of hot water. Remove hot jars and place on 2 kitchen towels. Let cool until room temperature. Remove rings, label jars, check to make sure jars are sealed, and store sealed jar in cellar or cool dark area. If jar didn’t seal, place in fridge and eat within a week.
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