Canning,  Food,  Homesteading,  Recipes

Open-Kettle Canning Pickles

What is Open-Kettle

Many people often ask, “What is open-kettle canning”? It is really simple, HOT liquid, HOT jars, and HOT rings and lids. No processing.

Yet another disclosure. Open-kettle canning was a popular method of home canning many years ago. It is deemed un-safe by the USDA. I am sure most of our grandparents and great grand parents used this canning technique. Many still do today on certain items like pickles, tomatoes, jellies, and pickled eggs (or anything pickled).

I open-kettle my pickles, and they are wonderful and crisp. So here is my process.

Wash all the cucumbers really well. This is really important. You don’t want any dirt on them. Put the vinegar, water, canning salt, and dill seed in a pot and bring it to a boil. I then place all jars, lids and rings in the oven on 200 degrees. This is the easiest way to heat the jars up all at once.

Now chop all the cucumbers up and place them in a hot jar. I work either one at a time or a couple at a time. Just work fast, so the jars don’t cool down. Fill the jars up with the hot brine (liquid), one garlic clove, and a fresh dill sprig and put the hot lid and ring on. Transfer to a towel and leave it alone for 24 hours.

It is just that simple.

Pickle Recipe – Makes 6 Pints

  • 24 cucumbers
  • 2 1/4 C vinegar
  • 1 1/2 C water
  • 10 whole garlic
  • 2 1/2 TBSP canning salt
  • 3 tsp dill seed
  • fresh dill (optional)

30 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses User Verification plugin to reduce spam. See how your comment data is processed.