Garlic-dill pickles 2024. The first two jars of many.
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Do you use a specific recipe?
I’ve found that using pectin helps a lot with getting that perfect set, especially when cutting back on sugar.
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Here’s what I use for the brine - made in multiples as much as desired:
½ c. white vinegar
½ c. cider vinegar
1 c. filtered water
1 T. kosher salt
1 t. granulated sugar
2-4 T. chopped onion
Here’s what I use for each 1/2 pint of pickles:
1 T. dill seed
1 t. mustard seed
8 pepper corns
1-2 cloves garlic, whole or chopped
¼ t. dill weed
Pinch of turmeric
1 Bay leaf
I do not water-batch process, but store in fridge. Strongly suggest you refer to the Ball Blue Book for safe canning guidelines.
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For cherries, I usually just cut them in half—makes them easy to mix into salads or pies. If I’m doing something like making jam, I’ll chop them into smaller pieces.
Green bean overload.
I made six half-pints of Dilly Beans. I like to use a 50/50 mix of white and cider vinegars, with a splash of champagne vinegar on top. Garlic, dill seed, and cayenne pepper for spice.
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I was all set to make a food and wine recipe for sweet pickled Fresno chilis when I realized it was only good for a week. I could use one of my jelly recipes, or the one shared by @Lambchop ( or is it @Lambchop53 ) called a relish, but I was hoping for something not quite as sweet, and with ring sized pieces.
Anyone have any ideas about making something like that work?
ETA This one says it lasts a month, which would be okay.
I’m almost afraid to ask, because it’s discussed with such fervor on the food safety thread, but any thoughts about garlic safety here? I know garlic in oil is a problem.
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More sharing!
Berries picked from a neighborhood patch resulted in 5 1/2 half-pints of old-fashioned, no-pectin, blackberry jam. I ran the berries through a food mill, and then a strainer, before making the seedless jam.
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My guy has a guava tree that has offered up a bumper crop of lovely fruit this year.
Today was processing the first batch of both jelly and guava paste.
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Well you have a good problem to have with your surplus of chiles! If you’re looking for shelf stable ways to preserve some of them, in a brine for instance, you could always process them in a hot water canner for the recommended time. You could also use them in some mixed relishes, which can then be canned as well. I saw an interesting looking recipes just now for a sweet and hot relish using onions, spices and maybe some garlic too. If there’s adequate acid in there, (like a chutney) the garlic is safe, as are the onions. Just use updated canning guidelines. As well, you could dehydrate some and store in oil in the fridge or just package them dry for the pantry. No garlic in the oil ones, unless the garlic is pasteurized to a certain temp though. You could also add some hotter chiles to them and make a hot sauce - think you’ve done a lot of experimenting with this already. Please DM me if you’d like recipe(s). Happy gardening!
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Thank you!
I just realized that yours were probably foraged blackberries!
Duh!
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Not canning or preserving but something useful 
I decided to make ricotta and had done a small amount in the micro…2 c whole milk, 1T white vinegar and although the yield was small, the results were more than satisfactory.
Today I used the Instantpot on the yogurt setting and used a half gallon of whole milk.This gave me approximately 2 c. ricotta. Pretty much a hands off method, the IP shuts off when it reaches 180*. The micro method I used brought the milk to 165*, so I think that range of temps, 165* to 175*/180* is a workable temperature spread to make ricotta. The small batch micro method is very rapid and good if your in a pinch for ricotta.
@CaitlinM …your cake obviously turned out wonderful with your substitution, but if you can’t substitute, this might be helpful.
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Thanks. I’ve made ricotta in the conventional manner, heating the milk on the stove. Unfortunately, I have neither a microwave nor an Instant Pot in my kitchen arsenal.
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Well stovetop certainly works, just a little easier in the micro if making a small amount. I forgot that you had said quite a while ago that you were micro-free!
Isn’t making cheese like preserving milk? I think so!
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Why yes it is !
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