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Posted: 7/12/2007 2:57:34 PM EDT
If you grow many cucumbers, you'll pretty quickly get to the point where you'll ask yourself: What the hell am I going to do with all these cukes?
 I like cukes partly because there are several good ways to preserve them. Pickles come to mind, of course. But relishes are another nice option. You may think of relish as just something that goes on hot dogs or hamburgers, but in many places relishes are also eaten as a side dish. Relishes can be plain or fancy. The one that I'll describe here is about as plain as they come. This is a dill relish and contains nothing but cukes, onions, dill seed, salt, sugar, turmeric and white wine vinegar. ********************************* These pickling cukes have a much thinner skin on them than a typical slicing cucumber. We lasted picked cukes about 5 days ago, so this is our yield over 5 days with 9 plants in the ground. When the cukes start coming in, they really come in fast.  I like to weigh things when I can. "Twenty pounds" is a much more repeatable measure than "twenty cucumbers." This basket weighed close to fourteen pounds....  ....but I wanted 18 pounds so I added some field cucumbers in to the mix to make up the difference. I'd have rather have used all pickling cukes, but ultimately it won't matter.  I cut the both ends off these cukes to make 'em easier to handling. But if you're preserving cukes, you need to cut the flower end off. That end of the cuke contains an enzyme that can make your pickles mushy if allowed to remain. Strictly speaking, it's not necessary to remove the seeds when making relish. Some people do, some people don't. If you're using a food processor, a lot of the seeds will get cut up anyway. I don't use a food processor and I don't like seeds in my relish, so we go to the extra trouble of halving them and scooping out the seeds.  The cuke halves then go into the rotary cutter which saves a little chopping.  The rotary cutter gets things started nicely, but it doesn't chop them fine enough.....  ...so they need to get turned out onto a cutting board for more chopping anyway.  This is what the soon to be relish looks like after sitting in a salt water and turmeric brine for 2 hours. It needs a good rinse and then I press whatever liquid I can out of it.....  ....before it goes in the boiler with the dill seed, sugar, onions and vinegar. It gets a 10 minute boil before being ready to go in the jars.  While the relish is cooking, we have time to get out the canning tools and put the lids in a saucepan to heat. Heating the lids (in water) to 180 degrees or so softens the rubber compound on the lids and helps ensure a good seal. The "tools" for canning are rudimentary and haven't changed much over the years. The jar lifter is a necessity for getting hot jars out of the canner after they're processed. The jar wrench isn't strictly necessary--I just use it to hold hot jars when I apply the lid....finger-tight is all it takes and this tool isn't used to torque lids onto the jars. (Over-tightening lids before processing can cause seal failures as the jars can't vent.) The magnet-tipped lid lifter makes it easy to fish hot lids out of the saucepan. The clear piece of plastic is a "Bubble Freer" and is run around the inside of the jar before putting the lid on. This gets out unwanted air bubbles in whatever you're processing. A butter knife can be used as well, but the plastic is guaranteed not to scratch your jars.  Mrs. Feral is filling a jar with hot relish. Headspace is important and varies depending on what you're processing--this recipe calls for 1/2" headspace. Too much or too little can affect your lid sealing rate. The lip on the jar needs a wipe before the lid goes on although the canning funnel minimizes spillage.  After filling, the bubble freer, or equivalent, goes gently around the outside of the jar. You can't see it in the picture, but doing this will obviously produce some bubbles that would otherwise end up as dead space in your canned product.  The lid comes over on the lid lifter and is centered on the jar........the ring goes on finger-tight.  Here's a canner load coming to a rolling boil. I put the jars in the canner rack as they're filled so they can heat while we're finishing a batch of jars. When the canner is at rolling boil, the basket can be lowered. This recipe calls for a 15 minute processing time and timing starts when the canner resumes a full boil--pretty quick with these outdoor burners.  Here the top canner is halfway through processing and the bottom canner is full and about ready to start processing. I really like running two burners outside. Not only do the canners boil more quickly with these burners, but it's a PITA to run two big canners simultaneously inside. And the kitchen stays much cooler this way.  It took the two of us about 4 hours total to produce these 13 pints, including picking and processing time. Is it worth it? That's a hard question to answer, but it is for us. Makes for a cheap date in any case.   
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Posted: 7/12/2007 3:23:58 PM EDT
[#1]
Nice! I canned up a batch of salsa the other day. Wish I had an outside setup like you!
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Posted: 7/12/2007 4:39:43 PM EDT
[#2]
Man, I love these posts! I have to get a garden in order, and a jarring set up too!
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Posted: 7/12/2007 4:43:32 PM EDT
[#3]
Great write-up feral.
 What?! No pics of Mrs. Feral? That's not very nice. 
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Posted: 7/12/2007 4:59:26 PM EDT
[#4]
Mrs. Feral says she's, and I quote, "too fat and pregnant for pics." Maybe some pics this Fall?
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Posted: 7/12/2007 5:06:39 PM EDT
[#5]
Show some of the old ones.
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Posted: 7/12/2007 5:56:04 PM EDT
[#6]
That is a great idea for cukes. I'm going to try that right away. Thanks!!!
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Posted: 7/12/2007 8:45:53 PM EDT
[#7]
Great post!
Thanks. |
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Posted: 7/12/2007 8:56:38 PM EDT
[#8]
Hey Feral..... Very informative, thanks for posting it.
smitty 
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Posted: 7/12/2007 9:43:45 PM EDT
[#9]
Where did you find the outdoor cooker? We have a cheap side by side 2 burner I got from harbor freight, but it is too small to fit 2 canners on at once. We also do a lot of canning, and that looks like a great gift for the wife.
Thanks, lumper. |
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Posted: 7/13/2007 3:37:05 AM EDT
[#10]
Mmmmmm......relish! I relish relish! Great write-up. Looks so easy, but my wife tells me it's back-breaking/slave-ing over a hot stove work....I jokingly tell here "Well, you ARE a woman Just think, you could be pregnant!"
  .Gonna be months before she'll let me eat any of the stuff she cans   Wife has been making a bushel of small cukes into "bread & butter" pickles the past 2 nights. We'll (she'll) be making some 7 day pickles later in the week. I DO have to look into relishes, tho.....dam hotdogs just ain't right with out it!.... Off to google "relish recipies". (check e-bay for rings and lids. I got 12 gross (yes, 12x144!) lids AND rings shipped for under $100 last year) We'll be canning for years with that kinda stock!) |
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Posted: 7/13/2007 4:47:36 AM EDT
[#11]
It came from this outfit. Not cheap, but it's constructed well enough that I doubt we'll ever need to buy another. |
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Posted: 7/13/2007 5:57:03 AM EDT
[#12]
Feral,
Great post, once again you show us Keyboard Survivalists what we should be doing After my big move coming up, I plan on doing alot of the things you have been doing. I hate cooking, but for some reason canning just doesnt seem like cooking to me, so I should be able to manage it. Please keep these kind of posts coming, as they are great motivation for the rest of us! Oh, and tell Mrs. Feral she IS beautiful! Does Mrs Feral have a sister in the Washington/Oregon area?
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Posted: 7/13/2007 7:50:55 AM EDT
[#13]
Looks great
 I usually just can dill pickles, beans and tomatos might have to try some relish this year. |
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Posted: 7/13/2007 4:20:13 PM EDT
[#14]
that relish does look good
got a recipe???? those outdoor cookers are at sportsman warehouse, cabelas, etc, think car camping for big people they run about a $100 worth every penny, way faster and all that heat is out of the kitchen. (plus it saves stove space so you can be working the next thing) I'll make the wife take a picture, but we have alittle thing that holds all the lids seperate so when you put them in the hot water, they don't touch each other and they all get hot. You are about 2 weeks in front of us, my cuke plants tripled in size this week, little pickles are on, i figure about two weeks. And it's all going to come at once, crazy amount of tomoto's coming. (sweet) |
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Posted: 7/13/2007 4:45:07 PM EDT
[#15]
Feral, the moons must have lined up for you to get cucs that nice. This year mine have been all screwed up.......some look like golf balls, some pointed on one end and full on the other, some long some short.
 We canned squash pickles this week and some bread and butter. We picked and canned 30 quarts of bush beans in the last two nights from only two rows, more to come tomorrow. The toms are finally breaking loose and changing color. The squash and zucs are full of squash vine borers and won't last another month. Pulled one stem last night that had 3 grubs in it. Started graveling some new potatos....so sweet you don't even need butter. Okra are getting in there prime now. The cucs vines have become like a house of ill repute for stink bugs.....never seen so much bug sex. |
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Posted: 7/13/2007 5:04:47 PM EDT
[#16]
I wonder why your cukes haven't been hardy? Our picklers and slicing cukes are going strong. We just gave away a bunch of slicers today because we just don't need 'em and don't, today, have time to deal with 'em. I think it was two seasons ago that our slicing crop failed.....got to the point where we had a handful of cukes to harvest then almost overnight the plants just shriveled and died. I never have figured out what happened to them that year. Some sort of virus perhaps?
We've got beans on our vines now....tomorrow I have to take a harder look at those plants and see if it's time to harvest some. Thirty quarts sounds like a nice day's work....how many bush plants did it take to get that yield?
I'm gonna have to try growing spuds......I've resisted it up 'til this point but am thinking I might have to try it. Maybe next year......if we survive our tomato crop this season. They're really out of hand.
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Posted: 7/13/2007 5:12:07 PM EDT
[#17]
It's just the recipe that's in the Ball Book for dill relish. Take a look and if you don't have it in your edition shoot me a note and I'll send it to you. Is that lid lifter thingy one of these? I've been looking at that thing for a while and trying to decide if it would be worth getting. If that's what you're talking about, do you like yours? |
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Posted: 7/13/2007 6:24:31 PM EDT
[#18]
any good recipes for dill pickles?
a small grocery store by me cans and sells their own dill pickles. they put in garlic, dill, salt, some type of hot pepper. so i can taste the garlic, saltiness (i know all recipes use salt), and a bit of heat. damn they are GOOD! every year he increases his production and he still sells out. i want to try and can some garlically/hot (kinda hot, not blazing). any recipes like this?? thanks |
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Posted: 7/13/2007 7:31:09 PM EDT
[#19]
Thanks for the link to the cookers.
lumper. |
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Posted: 7/13/2007 7:36:22 PM EDT
[#20]
very nice info and pics !
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Posted: 7/14/2007 3:28:39 AM EDT
[#21]
I'm using BozemanMT's recipe for dills.....wouldn't be right for me to divulge his recipe though. Shoot him an IM and maybe he'll share it with you. 
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Posted: 7/14/2007 4:33:10 AM EDT
[#22]
That's the lid lifter thingy. it's easier to reload for sure, and you only get one. it makes sense to me that that way teh water goes over everything. But you have to use a bigger pot than you think to make it fit. Easier to clean up for sure. We also have two jar holders (one for each hand), makes it go much faster. |
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Posted: 7/14/2007 8:01:05 AM EDT
[#23]
Outstanding post!
I may have to post some recipes of my own on the forum, so much you can do to preserve cucumbers. |
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Posted: 7/14/2007 8:35:06 AM EDT
[#24]
Tag. Feral, I really look forward to all of your gardening threads.... they give me great ideas!
 I'm hoping to have my high intensity beds going starting this fall.... it's definitely NOT the time in Vegas to be starting anything. And next spring I'll be ordering my fruit trees- I may just keep them in cold storage until fall again though in order to acclimate them at a milder time of year. Nothing seems to do well here if you plant it and it immediately has to deal with a 110*+ summer right off the bat! Thank again! |
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Posted: 7/14/2007 8:40:25 AM EDT
[#25]
By the way- can any of you guys recommend some good books on canning/preserving foods? I've done TONS of jams/jellies, but I've never really done much in the way of fruits and veggies. I know alot of it has to do with acid content, etc.... and I also need to get a pressure cooker eventually to go with my simple steam canner. Any good book recommendations would be much appreciated.
(oh, and links to more good canners- boiling, pressure, etc.)
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Posted: 7/14/2007 8:59:48 AM EDT
[#26]
http://ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=123&t=553325
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Posted: 7/14/2007 1:34:13 PM EDT
[#27]
Here are a few of the books I've read pickles and relishes preserving the harvest For canners, I went from a water bath canner to a steam canner For pressure canners I bought a "weighted" type rather than a gauge type I never use it, but when I researched buying it I read somewhere that the gauge type canners are supposed to be calibrated every year so the weighted type seemed like a better way to go. |
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Posted: 7/14/2007 3:31:36 PM EDT
[#28]
Bed_Head, The two books we get the most mileage out of are these: Ball Complete Ellie Topp's Complete |
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Posted: 7/14/2007 5:55:10 PM EDT
[#29]
Pregnant women are beautiful, and outstanding post (again) ! Thanks for sharing that with us.
I have one other tip for cuke growers and aspiring pickle makers: Wear leather gloves when harvesting! Getting one of those pointy little hairs stuck in your skin is a PITA!!! |
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Posted: 7/21/2007 12:25:37 PM EDT
[#30]
Ok, my cuke's are finally producing.
got out there, and got 2 shotgun ammo cases full of pickles (many bigger than I like, we were busy this week) and it made about 18 quart jars full of dill pickles. out of 9 mounds (3 seeds per mound) (about 5' by 10') and it will do that every week until the end of august. hmmmmmmmm, pickles. |
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Posted: 7/21/2007 6:45:11 PM EDT
[#31]
bozeman-
i too put up some pickles today (your recipe). i bought some pickler cucs at the farmers market today (i only have slicers in the garden) and some fresh dill (i bought wayyyy too much!). i was able to put up 10 quarts today. i couldn't find small red peppers, so i used serrano peppers instead. my first 3 quarts popped but my next 4 didn't. my lids had started to cool off by then. i then kept the lids HOT. my last 3 jars and the 4 re-packs all popped. i can't wait to try them in 3 weeks. i bought my outdoor 2 burner yesterday at sportsmans warehouse, i wish i had a 3 burner. one for the jars, one for the brine, and one for the lids. it still worked slicker than snot! it took a while to clean the garlic, peppers, and cucs, but it should be worth it. Craig |
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Posted: 7/22/2007 4:25:44 AM EDT
[#32]
never tried it with serrano's, that might be odd.
the little red peppers are in the mexican food section in the grocery store. (you get this 4x4 pack (of 100+) for 2 or 3 dollars.) good luck. |
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Posted: 7/22/2007 3:34:06 PM EDT
[#33]
Canned 21 pints of beets yesterday.
Gonna be a long canning week here also. 20 dozen ears of corn on the way from my bud. Salsa tomatos are within a thumbprint of being just right. Unfortunately my japalenos are too far behind for this batch. I hate stunted plants. Down to 6 squash/zuc vines. Note to self - cut down a few more trees this fall for a few more hours of sun. |
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Posted: 7/22/2007 4:02:44 PM EDT
[#34]
Good info.
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Posted: 7/23/2007 8:17:42 AM EDT
[#35]
Funny..... I have the exact opposite problem. We're getting more trees planted tomorrow. I'm looking foward to joining in these festivities this fall- next spring/summer....
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Posted: 7/23/2007 3:29:12 PM EDT
[#36]
Planting trees in July? Man, if you did that in NC in July they would convict you of cruelty to a baby tree.
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Posted: 7/23/2007 4:36:55 PM EDT
[#37]
Wow
go see above, on saturday morning, I picked the plants clean (9 of them), tonight (monday night), the wife picked enough to do 3.5 quarts wow! Gotta start selling some here again. |
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Posted: 7/23/2007 5:59:19 PM EDT
[#38]
I had the same reservations, but, eh, these trees aren't babies, and are bred for the high desert.... they'll be happy to be out of those big crates/boxes and have a permanent home. They've been doing it for decades here in so. NV, so they must be doing something right....I will, however, be waiting until fall to plant my gardening boxes, because that WOULD be cruelty here.... |
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Posted: 8/4/2007 8:54:30 AM EDT
[#39]
very nice and looks good too...
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Posted: 8/11/2007 8:32:42 PM EDT
[#40]
i taste tested my pickles today. pretty damn good for a first batch if i do say so myself!
i won't use serrano peppers again. there wasn't any heat to the pickles. i did find some of the dried chili peppers today. i still like my pickles as does my wife, so its a win win! i'll do one more batch, hopefully tomorrow with the dried chilis. all total i hope to put up about 20 quarts of pickles this year. i'll give some to my parents and brother. they like these pickles. this recipe tastes similar to a small local grocery store's version that they can and sell ($4.59!!!). C |
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Posted: 8/12/2007 5:02:54 AM EDT
[#41]
we're tired of pickles
we're seriously thinking of pulling the plants it may not happen, but it is getting ridiculous had a dinner with some people I used to work with and sold a good 15 odd jars so that helps only a 100+ to go.
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Posted: 8/12/2007 11:41:49 AM EDT
[#42]
We've gotten to that point with tomatoes. 
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Posted: 8/12/2007 1:20:38 PM EDT
[#43]
The heat finally got my cuc vines. Planted 12 more cuc transplants yesterday to see if I can get a fall crop ( another REELDOC experiment). We've been canning club sauce and salsa every three or four nights for about a month. Vines are really looking bad.
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Posted: 8/12/2007 5:35:04 PM EDT
[#44]
my mistake, i tried a pickle that was close to the serrano pepper and it was tangy!!!
i bought some more cucs today and put up 5 more quarts of pickles. i used fresh thai chili peppers. i was gonna use 1 pepper per quart, but i tried the peppers first, whew! i used about 1/2 pepper in each quart. they're hot. i'll dry the rest of the peppers i bought and use them next year. i have enough fixings (except cucs) so i may buy enough this week at the farmers market and do another 5 quarts and be done with it for the year. |
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