The difference in pickles?
 

I've been doing some canning this year. We've an abundance of cucumbers. My question is whats the difference between sweet pickles and bread and butter pickles? I don't like either one,too sweet for me, but it seems everyone else does. I just made my first batch of bread and butter pickles last week. Looking around the internet for recipes and they seem to be almost the same recipe. Maybe one of you old timers that has canned for years can fill me in on the difference?

Thanks!

Usually it is the spices in the recipe. My Bread and Butter recipe has mustard seed and turmeric and my sweet mixed pickle recipe has pickling spices tied into a cheesecloth and removed before adding the brine to the jars.

While sweet, I don't find the B+Bs to be quite so sweet, and that's probably the effect of the different spices.
My recipes are slightly different process from cucumber thru to pickle.

Also, traditionally, B+Bs are sliced thin whereas sweets are thicker pieces.


Oh dear ... does this make GingerK and I, old timers? eeeeeek!!!!!!!!!!

When I said old timers I meant to canning, not age!...ooops! My bad!

Hey ... I was just kidding!!!!!! :D:D


As I got some pickles out for lunch today, I thought of another difference ... my B+Bs have some sliced onions and peppers added to the mix.

My husband likes green tomato pickles.

If you like a little more 'kick', try bread and butter jalapenos. My bunch doesn't care for the pickles, but LOVE the jalapeno version. DM and I used to make a lot of Kosher dill pickles, but I don't try a big garden any more. Have fun with your cukes!

Do you slice them or leave them whole? Leave the seeds in? We pickled whole jalapenos last year but not with the B&B mixture. Ross loves "HOT" Pickles so I put hot pepper shake in the last batch of B&B pickles.

Yes, I admit that I am ummm......older....than some of you. I remember helping my mother can and freeze and pickle our garden produce back in the last century :eek:

But you are right, B&B are thinly sliced cuic and onion. And I find they can get over cooked very easily and then lose their crispness. My sweet pickles are a mixture of chunks of cuic, cauli, baby carrots, pearl onions and even celery (only tried that once.)

I like 'warmer' pickles and my dill pickle recipe calls for a tbsp. of pickling spice in each jar but I also always add an extra piece of dried chili pepper. And I let them sit at least 3 months. They definitely have a kick!!

I do enjoy homemade pickles, but this year am going to do a large jar of refrigerator pickles and that will be it. I do enjoy the aromas from pickling, nothing quite like it.

I ADORE green tomato pickles!!! Vlassic used to make a decent one, but no longer. I can never find green tomato pickles.

Green tomato pickles? I've gotta search for that one!

I vaguely recall my Mom making a sweet cucumber people that took days (weeks?) to complete the process. About the main thing I remember is that they were sliced about 1/2 inch thick m- and they were very sweet and crisp!

She started making 'hot' bread and butter pickles that she froze! They were very good - and I have no idea how she made them.

Must be similar to what we used to make-14 day pickles. Somewhere I have the recipe.........but what i remember is putting them in a crock with lime and water and putting a weighted plate on top to keep them submerged. they ended up being a real crisp pickle. mom used to make bread and butter pickles, 14 day pickles, sweet relish, dills and yellow peppers(Hungarian half hots ). They used to put the peppers on sandwiches. My brother still makes them but i never cared for them.

Bearisgray, they were probably 7 or 8 day pickles. You do something to them every day for 7 days and then can on the eighth. My mom used to make them in an old earthenware crock.

i just googled Freezer bread and butter pickles and came up with a bunch of recipes. Hmmm...interesting...

I slice them. I try to make pepper slices at least 1/4" to make certain they have some 'body'. Sounds like nonsense, but I mean that I cut them thick enough that you don't have 'stringy' mess. Leave seeds, definitely! I also slice the onions and bell peppers fairly thick. Last year, my quilting neighbor also had a big garden(great for me). She brought me bags of jalapenos(red and green), so they made a prettier batch. Also got lots of small pods of okra to pickle. Always add hot chili or cayenne peppers to that!

The sweet and crisp that Bearisgray refers to is probably like DM made and I think they referred to them as 'lime pickles'. Not sure if the recipe is in the ones I have. She also added green color to make them more colorful. The only sweet pickle that I really liked(with ham or other pork).

14 day pickles! And I thought overnight was bad.

Yeah, now i can't believe all the canning/freezing my folks did! along with their full time jobs ! Dad farmed and drove a school bus for extra income, mom was a clerk at the local grocery. we had huge, huge gardens and a lot of fruit trees. nothing went to waste. After supper the kitchen was cleaned and they both worked on whatever vegetables or fruit was ready to preserve. sometimes till midnight. then they went to bed and did the same thing over the next day. As kids we were expected to help weed, pick, clean, and can, too.

Don't forget the cinnamon stick in sweet pickles along with whole cloves.....

Oh yes ... the cinnamon stick!
I just couldn't understand cinnamon in pickles ... to me, as a kid, cinnamon meant dessert, cookies, rice pudding and the like! Never pickles. And then as I got older ... I understood! :D

Did all of that with my grandmother who took care of my brother & me growing up. Loved the smells & did it after I was married too until I went back to driving the 18 wheelers for my folks. It was not the same as doing it with grandma she is also the one that taught me to sew & quilt. Think that is why there was no obesity in that era.

You might want to try your hand at making dill pickles. They are a nice change to the sweet.

Who would have ever thought that pickles would be a great topic on the QB! ...LOL I've decided to pickle some jalapenos this afternoon. You gals have such wonderful ideas!

........ and sooooooooo easy!

Am with you, judylg, about making fridge pickles, just me now but DH liked the B&B pickles canned. Lots of memories in the cellar to use up.

End-of-Garden pickles are oom, nom, nom too. I taught myself to can from the Ball Canning Book and some recipes from the Farm Journal Cookbook. Jams and pickles were always my favorites. Golden Glow pickles were made with cukes that escaped into the weeds and grew as big as blimps. Peeled, seeded and cut into nice chunks they made a tasty pickle. Lime pickles have a nice crunch and color but I never had success with any of the longer process recipes.

When I used to can pickles, my B & B pickles had mustard and celery seeds along with onions and spices...no garlic. The sweet pickles were easier and had spices , no celery seed, and of course they both had vinegar and sugar. Love B & B's.

I wish I could make the Kosher dills like DM made! They were great. Of course, with cayenne pepper added. Last batch we tried, couldn't get the crispness she did! I helped her, but most of her canning was done without written recipe! Why didn't I think to take notes??

My mom made what she called cinnamon crisp pickles. They are so delicious, sweet though. The recipe included cinammon sticks, red hot candies, red food coloring, and the sugar and cloves, I think a couple of other spices, but they take 10 days to make. It is a great recipe for your larger cucs that have gotten to big for pickles. You peel them, core them, then slice. Put in a brine of water and lime. I have made them, yes it is a lot of work, but so worth it.

Nanacc, You probably let them sit in the canner too long. My mom always started the jars in hot, not boiling, water and left the jars in only until the cuics had mostly changed colour. That is the way I still make them.

I wish I could get my Snow pea pickles to be like the ones I remember, but they are verrrry touchy and so far, they just do not measure up.

I was taught to put "alum the size of a pea" into each of the jars.
I usually added more, to be sure they were crisp!

Our recipe did not require processing ... packed the cukes into the jars along with the dill, and alum. Poured the hot brine overtop. Lids on. Then leave to sit in the fruit cellar for a few weeks.