Grants Bread and Butter Pickles
Bread and Butter Pickles Recipe
I make dills as well but I ferment them. This recipe rocks even my friends who aren't fans of this style love these bread and butter pickles. You won't be disappointed!!
Place the cucumbers in a sink filled with cold water. Gently rub each cucumber by hand to remove any dirt or other particles that might be attached. DO NOT use a vegetable brush to scrub the cucumbers. Drain off the dirty water when finished.
Gently rinse the cucumbers again, under cool running water. Place in a colander and let drain.
Cut about 1/4 inch off of each end of the cucumbers. Discard the end pieces.
Slice each cucumber into 1/4 inch or thicker slices. If you slice them really thin, they will shrivel and be much softer when finished. Slice them a bit thicker and they’ll tend to be a little crispier.
Next, slice up the onions. Just looking at this picture makes my eyes water… how about you?
Place the sliced cucumbers in a large pot. I use my enameled canning pot for this part. Just don’t use Aluminum. Stainless Steel or Teflon coated will work well.
Add the sliced onions on top of the cucumbers.
Gently stir the cucumber and onion slices together with your hand
Sprinkle the top with the Canning and Pickling Salt. You can find it in most of the larger big box stores or in many grocery stores. You just don’t want to use regular table salt to make your pickles.
Cover the top with about two inches of crushed ice or cubed ice. If possible, place this pot in your refrigerator for 3-4 hours or even overnight. If you don’t have room in the refrigerator for it, just keep adding more ice as it melts. It’s very important to keep the cucumbers and onions cold.
While the cucumbers and onions are doing there thing under the ice, go ahead and wash your jars and bands, and start setting everything up to do the actual canning process. You’ll need to wash the jars in hot soapy water and rinse them well. Be sure to check the jars for any nicks, especially around the top edge. Discard any that are chipped or broken. Chipped edges on the jars could affect the proper seal of the jar. You’ll want to wash and rinse the jars, and the bands, just before you’re ready to start the canning process. Jar lids MUST be NEW and do not need to be washed.
Once the jars have been washed and rinsed, you’ll need to sterilize them. Many of the newer dishwashers have a sanitize cycle that will work for this. I always place mine in my canning pot to do it. Fill the pot almost full and place the jars inside. Many directions recommend that you place a clean kitchen towel in the bottom so the jars aren’t resting on the very bottom of the pot during this process. Bring the pot with the jars up to a rolling boil and let the jars remain at this temperature for 10-15 minutes.
With the jars starting to boil, take the cucumbers and onions mixture out of the refrigerator and drain off the salt water.
I place mine in a colander and then gently rinse them under cool running water. The cucumbers will have absorbed a good amount of the salt and will taste salty when finished if you don’t rinse them well. Salty tasting Bread and Butter Pickles aren’t good. Trust me on this one. Rinse them gently and then just let them sit and drain while we prepare the spice mixture next.
In a large sauce pot, add the Vinegar.
Add the Sugar.
Add the Mustard Seed.
Add the Celery Seed.
Add the Turmeric.
Stir the sugar and spices well. Place over Medium-High heat on your stove top and bring this mixture to a light rolling boil. You’ll need to stir it as it starts warming up to make certain the sugar has fully dissolved. Don’t let the sugar just sit in the bottom of the pot during this process, keep it moving so it doesn’t scorch or burn.
Once it begins to boil, let it boil for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, carefully add the cucumber and onions.
Stir the pot often and let the mixture come back up to just the point of reaching a slight rolling boil. Once it begins to boil, time it, and let it boil for ONE minute. When the minute is up, remove the sauce pot from the heat and get ready to jar it up.
This is my stove top setup for canning. I think one of the biggest things that discourages folks from doing more canning and preserving, is not being organized when you need to be. Everything starts happening all at one time, and you need to be ready for each step of the process. A little advance planning, along with a little added experience, will make the process a whole lot easier.
I use four pots. The pot on the front left is usually the food item I’m working with. The big pot on the front right is my canning pot. I keep a small pot on the back left burner that holds my lids and bands. The larger pot on the back right burner is just more water that I keep heated during the process. On my stove top this all just fits.
The jars are in the big canning pot at this point, getting sterilized. I’ll take them out once I remove the pot of heated cucumbers from the stove.
Jar lids and bands are placed on the back burner. This pot is kept on the lowest heat setting on my stove top. The lids need to just warm up enough to soften the red rubber part of the lid so it will seal better. You do NOT want this pot to boil at any point. When I start bringing the empty jars up to boil, I place the lids and bands on the stove on this lowest heat setting. They’re usually just right by the time I need them.
After the jars have boiled for 10-15 minutes, a lot of water has evaporated from the pot. By keeping the pot of water on the burner behind it, I have hot water ready to add back into the pot once the filled jars are ready to go back into the canning pot. That way, I don’t have to wait another 20 minutes for the canning pot to get back up to boiling.
On my counter, I place the utensils I’ll need to actually fill the jars. I lay out a cloth at the back to place the sterilized jars on once I pull them from the boiling water. I have a hot pad for the pot when it comes off the stove.
I pulled the cucumbers from the stove top and set the pot on the pad. I used the jar lifter and pulled the sterilized jars out of the canning pot. One jar is placed on the plate right next to the pot of cucumbers and I’ve inserted the funnel into the jar opening. I use a slotted spoon to fill the jars first, filling it all the way to the top of the jar with the heated cucumbers and onions. Then, I use a ladle to fill the jar with liquid from the pot.
Once the jars are filled, take the wooden skewer, or a butter knife, and run it around the inside edges of the jar. This will allow any air bubbles in the bottom of the jar to slide up the skewer to the top where they will burst and be released. You’ll probably not get them all, but you need to get out as many as possible.
When the jar is filled correctly, gently wipe the very top and all around the thread portions of the jar with a clean, damp cloth. You don’t want any liquid or food particles on the top surface as it may prevent the seal on the lid from sealing properly. Any food particles, or syrup, around the outside threads could cause the band to stick and be difficult to remove later. Just wipe it carefully and clean it well making sure you have the right amount of head space. Bread and Butter pickles need 1/4 inch of head space for a proper filled jar.
Remove one lid from the warm water and center it over the top of the filled jar. I add a little more liquid if needed before finally placing the lid on the jar. If you ever plan to enter any of your canning projects into competition, head space is one of the first things checked when the judges open the jars.
Next, place one of the jar bands over the lid. Make sure the band is seated properly before you begin to snug it down and tighten it. All canning recipes will call for the jar band to be tightened “finger tight.” That means you just snug it down without trying to force a bunch of pressure into tightening up the band. If it’s too tight, it will keep the air inside from escaping and could cause an improper seal
When the jars are filled, and closed with the lids and bands, it’s time to place them in the canning pot.
Once the jars are lowered into the canning pot, they should be covered with an inch or two of water. Again, consult the recipe you are using for the proper amount. I’ve just used the same water that was in the pot from sterilizing the jars. They’re filled and closed so it will not matter. I’ve also used that extra pot of water on the back burner to make sure I have enough water over the tops of the jars.
Let the jars come back up to a rolling boil and then start timing them. You will want to let the Bread and Butter Pickles stay in this rolling boil “water bath” for TEN MINUTES. Time doesn’t start until the water is boiling again over the submerged jars. When it starts to boil, cover the pot and start timing the process.
After 10 minutes, remove the lid from the canning pot. I use two tongs to grasp the handles and lift the rack back up to that first notch on the handles. Be sure to watch for steam when you go to remove the lid, it can burn you bad. Raise the jars back up and place the handle notch back on the rim of the canning pot. The jars need to just sit here and rest for about five minutes before you start removing them from the canning pot.
After five minutes, use the jar lifter again, and carefully remove the jars from the canning pot. The hot jars should be placed on a folded towel in a draft free location for 24 hours. You MUST resist the urge to press on the top center of the jar to see if it sealed for this amount of time. You may be able to look closely at the jars and see if the center portion is up or down but DO NOT press on it.
After the jars have sat for 24 hours, check the tops to make sure each one has sealed. Any jar that hasn’t sealed is still good and should just be placed in the refrigerator and consumed first. If by chance you had a large number of jars that didn’t seal, you can reprocess the jars again but you’ll need NEW lids. Bands can be used over and over but new lids are needed each time you can anything.
The completed pickles really need about 4-5 weeks to develop their best flavor. I know it’s hard to resist them for such a long time, but you’ll be rewarded with the best taste if you can hang on for that long.
It’s best to remove the bands from the jars before storing them. That way, if a jar loses it’s seal after a period of time, you’ll notice it more quickly. Properly sealed jars will continue to hold the seal without the band.
Bread and Butter Pickles should be stored in a cool, dark, dry location in a single layer. Do not stack jars or anything else on top of them. Properly processed and sealed pickles will easily keep stored for a year or longer.
Enjoy!
Bread and Butter Pickles Recipe
Rating: 5
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 5 hours, 10 minutes
Yield: Approximately 7 pints.

Follow these easy, step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions for making and canning your very own Bread and Butter Pickles. You'll never buy pickles again once you've made your own. See just how quick and easy it is to make these delicious pickles right in your own kitchen. This recipe can be completed in one day.
Ingredients
6-lbs of Pickling Cucumbers 3-lbs Onions, thinly sliced ½ cup Canning or Pickling Salt, 4 cups White Vinegar (5% Acidity) 4 cups Sugar, 2 Tablespoons Mustard Seed , 2 Tablespoons Celery Seed, 1 1/2 Tablespoon Pickling Spice, 2 teaspoon Turmeric, 1 tsp pepper flakes.
Instructions
Place cucumbers in sink with cold water.Scrub each cucumber by hand, DO NOT use a vegetable brush.Rinse all the cucumbers and drain.Slice ¼ inch off each end of each cucumber and discard.Slice the cucumbers into ¼ inch thick slices.Slice the onions.Place the sliced cucumbers and onions in a large pot and stir gently by hand to mix.Sprinkle salt over the mixture.Cover the mixture with about 2 inches of crushed or cubed ice.Refrigerate the mixture for 3-4 hours, or overnight, adding more ice as needed during this time. When ready to process pickles, wash jars in hot, soapy water.Setup your stove and counter area in advance for ease in canning.Place jars in boiling water for 15 minutes to sterilize.Place lids and bands in a pot of warm water, not hot or boiling, and let sit until needed.Drain cucumbers and onions, rinse well to remove salt and let drain.In a large pot, add Vinegar, Sugar, Mustard Seed, Celery Seed, Pickling Spice, Turmeric, stir well. Bring to a boil over Medium-High heat and boil for 10 minutes.Add cucumbers and onions to the pot, bring back to low boil and boil for One Minute.Remove from heat and ladle into jars, leaving ¼ inch head space in each jar.Remove any air bubbles by inserting a wooden skewer along inside edge of the jar.Wipe top of jar and rim with a clean damp cloth.Center a lid on the jar. Add the band, and tighten only finger tight.Process jars, using the water bath process, for 10 minutes.Remove jars from canning pot, set aside in a draft free location, undisturbed for 24 hours.Test jars for proper seal. Store sealed jars in a cool dark place for up to one year.Enjoy!
