Well I just tried to can seven quarts of dill pickles. I soaked them in lime before I processed them and they have peices of garlic in them. None of them sealed. I have a small canner and I have trouble keeping quarts under water at all.My questions are can I reprocess and can I keep the brine for another day that is left over?Do I need to remove the garlic if I keep the liquid? Do I keep the whole thing in the refrigerator? Will these pickles be mush if I do? I am processing for 10 minutes this time. Am I wasteing my time? Thanks.

-- Bonnie (josabo1@juno.com), July 09, 2000

Answers

Re-can away....I sure don't understand why none of them sealed though....are the lids and jar rims clean of all debris??? I have often had one or two jars not seal..no problem reprocessing them, but I try to do this the next day or so..sooner rather than later...leave the garlic in, that's OK too...I do not know about saving brine..never done that.I always refrigerate anything that needs to be reprocessed...you just never know...darn, I was going to check my book to see how long I usually can pickles and cannot put my hand on it right now..it may even still be packed away!!!I would recommend that you look for a large canner at a yard sale..that's where I found all 4 of mine..I'm glad you posted this because I am looking at two huge bags of cucumbers on my counter that I planned on making into pickles in the morning and cannot find my book!!!!!! The only time I have ever had pickles turn to mush was when I overcooked them..sorry I cannot remember the processing time...does someone else know???? God bless...

-- lesley (martchas@gateway.net), July 09, 2000.

Leslie, I think I didn't wait long enough. Usually my pints start popping almost as soon as I get them out of the canner.The one jar I didn't redo has since sealed. POOH! Any way I did re-process for 10 minutes. I was useing Carla's old fashioned cook book.It said to process for 15 min. raw pack. I have never made dill or sour pickles before without a mix Such as Mrs. Wages. I am determined to stay away from mixes though. I have a great lime pickle recipie (I can't even spell) anyway ! I wanted a sour type pickle and hers was the only one I could find to can and it taste great already. The brine is salty and sour. I didn't put dill in because I didn't have any.I am also trying her bread and butter pickle. I don't know if I like it or not though. Maybe it's too early to know for that one.The book said to let it sit for 3 or 4 weeks to enhance the flavor. I also made the peach ketsup. It's pretty good. I am not sure what I will use it for. I made sort of peach butter and am going to use it for fried pies.It stil has small peices of fruit in it. Any way it's pretty. I just heard another jar pop! Maybe I havn't made mush of them.Thanks for helping. I hope your pickles turn out great.What's your recipie?

-- Bonnie (josabo1@juno.com), July 10, 2000.

I'll have to look in the morning at my recipies. One thing I do that seems to help seal lids is to turn the jars upside down if they don't seal right away and let set overnight or for a few hrs... seal every time.. got this tip off some book on canning. Hope this helps.

Bernice

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), July 10, 2000.

Since there is so much vinegar in pickles do you have to process if you heat to boil first? And what about the recipies with all the sugar in them? I mean if it will seal is it ok anyway? It seems that the least cooking you have to do; the less soft the pickles will be.

-- Bonnie (josabo1@juno.com), July 10, 2000.

Bonnie, I would take the garlic and the pickles, add some onion and red bell pepper, and make relish out of them and then reseal into pints. If you reprocess your pickles now, they will be limp! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), July 10, 2000.

Here's an old-fashioned method..I think I'll try it myself !!! 75 cucumbers..clean them and place in a large crock..make a brine of 2 cups of salt in a gallon of water..boil the brine and pour it over the cukes while still boiling hot....let stand for 7 days...if your house is hot, skim foam off daily...drain off the brine and cut the cukes in slices.....for the next 3 mornings,make a boiling hot solution of 1 gallon water and 1 TBSP of alum and pour over the cukes...do not use yesterday's solution, make a fresh one each morning X3....one the 4th day, drain off the alum solution and throw it away..mix 6 cups vinegar,5 cups sugar,one half cup pickling spices and bring to a boil..pour over cukes...on the 5th morning, drain this off SAVING the liquid and adding 2 cups of sugar to it,boil again and pour over the cukes..on the 6th morning,drain liquid again,saving it, and add 1 cup of sugar to it, boil it up again..pack the pickles in hot sterized jars and pour the boiling liquid over them to within one half to one inch of the top of the jars..seal the lids....store...

-- Lesley (martchas@gateway.net), July 10, 2000.

Do you have to process dill pickles? I know the Ball Blue Book says so, but I've yet to make a crisp dill pickle. My mom has canned for years and can't believe that I have processed them. I just decided to plant enough cukes this year to eat because no one will eat my pickles. Help?

-- Tauna (tegan@ida.net), July 16, 2000.