I can't spell either.

Hey, glad you joined us ! You actually read all the terms ? I just always say "OK", LOL.
The dilly beans are only 10 min. Unless you want to boil the jars first, then you process 5 min. Me, I process the 10 min.
Where did you see 25 min ? You process fresh plain beans in a pressure canner, 20 min. pints, 25 quarts, but not needed if they are pickled.
They may be a bit soft, but not ruined. Yes, normally you need to do a continuous processing, but since you did overtime, they should be fine. Get them cold before eating and they will seem more crisp. Don't worry, everyone makes mistakes, especially at first. That is how you learn.
I wait about 6 weeks for the dill pickles. I get impatient.
If I don't get over to the farmers market, I won't be making any of the dill pickles. I need some ! They let me eat them, at least. (Diabetic, yeh, not always fun, but at least I am still kicking !)

Linda Lou! Of all the people I would have wanted to reply to my first post, you are tops!

So I boiled them about 25 minutes longer than I needed to? Now I feel like laughing - which is so much nicer than the dozen or so times I have wanted to cry in the past few hours!

Part of my problem with this is that I know so little I don't know what's important and what's not. I notice you didn't comment on the beans tipping over or the fact that some jars of pickles have ones that are sliced and some not. And some have both ;-) I'm guessing that none of that rises to the occasion of something to worry about...?

Beans: It's a recipe I got from my husband's aunt. Pickling salt, garlic, red pepper flakes, dill sprigs, one to one water and vinegar. I guess whoever came up with it remembered the rule for beans but didn't figure on the powers of vinegar. Would you need the exact recipe to advice me to only do 10 minutes?

I figured it would be just as easy to heat the jars in the BWB pot than anywhere else, and since I was so slow, they boiled in there a good long time before I was ready to fill them. Then I was so slow filling that they were barely warm when I was done. And the brine wasn't that close to boiling, either. That's probably why it took so long to resume boiling.

Pickles: Six weeks? How long would I wait if I were patient?

I think my biggest problem was doing two different things at once. Not a good plan for a newbie.

Helenore, first welcome to the group.

As to the Dilly Beans, the processing time, even with your aunt's recipe, should be ten minutes. Anytime you have vinegar/water half and half, or stronger acid, you are pickling and don't need a particularly long processing time.

Ruined? I would say not. They may not be as crispy as you'd like them to be, but they'll still taste fine, albiet a bit soft. As Linda Lou notes, serving them cold will help that problem.

As to the tipped jars, the only potential problem is if some of the brine spilled out, leaving residue on the jars/lids. This could affect proper sealing.

Best bet is to leave the jars untouched 24 hours. Then, working over a bowl, remove the rings, invert the jars, and give them a good shake or two. It they haven't sealed properly you'll know it.

Assuming they have sealed (most of the time they will), wipe the jars and lids with a damp cloth, then store them away.

I was brought up to heat the jars in the BWB, and continue to do it that way. I put them in the kettle and turn on the heat before working with the produce. That way there's plenty of time for the water to come to a full boil.

After filling each jar, I stand it in a sink filled with hot water to hold it as warm as possible. Then, when all the jars are ready, I return them to the BWB. Working this way, I've found, it returns to boil in a reasonable amount of time.

Meanwhile, let me offer this advice. There are two very common errors made by beginners. First, they try to do too much at one time. Second, they intimidate themselves. Neither is necessary. Take things slow and easy as you learn. Do one task at a time. And do it when there is nothing else to distract you.

Mostly, just enjoy the journey. Putting foods by is one of the most exciting and self-satisfying things you can do. It won't take long before you're an old hand, offering advice as well as taking it.

I wait about a month before opening my pickles. Of course thats not the rule for a half sour salt brine type though. If your recipes call for 100 % vinegar with no extra water added, I am sure that you can process a bit less time provided the jars are cold packed and filled with the boiling brine. My quarts only get about 10-15 minutes. Any more and they become very soft, because they are actually being cooked. I wouldn't process the same 10-15 minute times if there was added water in the vinegar brine.

Here is a link to the recipe for dilled beans on the Nat'l Center for Home Preservation website. It has the USDA publication online and is a great resource. As are some of the other university websites.

National Center - indexed by topic
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html

MSU site, has an alphabetical index
http://web1.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/mod01/master01.html

Here is a link that might be useful: dilled beans

helenore, let me welcome you to the Harvest Forum, you'll be addicted before you know it!

I also think the beans may be a little softer than you expected but I kind of like them that way. LOL As for the tipped jars, it's happened to me before and never caused a problem. As GardenLad said, check your seals and wash your jars. Be sure to remove those rings before storing or they can stick fast to the jars and you'll never get them off. Ask me how I know. LOL

I also put some cut cucumbers and some whole ones into the same batch, trying to keep them consistent in size to each other, if that makes sense. Same with pickled beets, the small beets stay whole, the big ones get cut.

Annie

I waited almost 20 hours and then checked the lids. They sealed!

So glad I read your post, Annie - I just took the rings off (that I had JUST put on.) (Are you Annie of Annie's Salsa fame?)

My garden is such a wonder to me. I keep being amazed that "it" works. You make the mound, you plant the seeds, you water, you wait... AND FOOD COMES OUT. This amazement is a tiny sliver of what it was like to become a mother. You just can't believe how cool it is, even though millions do it every day.

The picture at the link below has NOTHING on Leesa's harvest, but if you want to see my jars, click away.

Thanks for the warm welcome and kind encouragement!

Here is a link that might be useful: All that fuss for this

Helenor, anybody who says there are no more miracles has never seen a newborn babe---or a plant springing from a seed.

AMEN! Gardenlad!

And welcome Helenore.
Be careful or you'll be spending more time here reading than in the kitchen canning!!
Yes, that's "Annie" the nearly FAMOUS Salsa Maker!!!

Deanna (who's not-so-patiently waiting for those first little Roma toms to finish turning red)

Amen from me, too! (Oh, and I forgot "You weed!")

I'm also waiting for my Romas, and since I only have one plant I will be heading down to the farmers market for most of mine.

And BTW, this forum is already mysteriously taking a lot of my time :)

She is indeed the famed Annie of the salsa !
One thing good about the salsa is it is thicker than many recipes, due to the tomato paste. If you want to water bath can it, you can if you add more vinegar, bottled lemon juice, or bottled lime juice.

Hey, we understand that fuss ! Worth every bit of it, too.
I have had jars tip over, no problem. Your smaller cucumbers are fine whole like that in the dill pickles.
I never get them that small, since I have to buy them.
If I were patient, I would wait 2 months to eat them.

Opened my next to the last jar of dill pickles last night. Still just as crunchy as can be.

I have yet to make the salsa, I just kept seeing it pop up in many of my searches and my interest is piqued. Glad there is an option for me and my available equipment. When I found the recipe somewhere on Garden Web, there was this at the end, "For BWB, increase the vinegar to 1 cup, no other changes. Process 15 minutes for pints and 20 minutes for quarts."

Good thing, too, because when I read "... add more vinegar, bottled lemon juice, or bottled lime juice" I just think, "Duh, how much is more?" (I'm one who wouldn't really mind the "dash" measuring spoon.)

I'll probably do pints of salsa, if I do it at all this year.

So you get to enjoy pickles, just in moderation? (I was so self/pickle-centered yesterday I didn't say anything about your comment about limited food choices. Sounds like a bummer that you make the best of. Great attitude!)

LInda Lou,
Cider vinegar is also good in the salsa.. The amount of acid can be anywhere from a teaspoon (very tiny) per quart, up to 1/4 cup per quart. You decide how much to use. Citric acid is also another option if you don't want more added liquid.

Yes, I eat the pickles on a sandwich sometimes. Just a few thin slices. It is OK, at least I know what is wrong and can do something about it now. I feel better than I have in a long time.
I would rather just eat a small amount of the pickles than to change them ! Found out my grandbaby likes them, too.
I ate some cherry jam on a sandwich today, just 2 little tsps. but I could taste it, just a bit. Enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. I was hungry for a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. So, I do eat a teeny bit of things still. Just not on a daily basis.

My breakfast was home made toasted english muffins topped with some of my low sugar strawberry jam and peanut butter. Most PB has sugar added. After that, to ensure that my blood sugars don't go crazy, I use about 25 units of Humilog insulin. This is fast acting, and after say 2-3 hours my blood sugars are back to 120 or a bit lower.

A bit OT, but if you find 100% cranberry juice at BJ's, your in for a real shock as to taste. The brand is R.W. Knudsen, and has no added sweeteners of any kind. Its VERY sour, and would make a really interesting addition to low/no sugared berry jams. If I were to convert this half gallon jug to a cranberry juice 'cocktail', I would probably add almost five gallons of water to it, as well as a lot of sugar. That would make it a 10% real cranberry juice 'cocktail'.

Linda Lou, you said that if I boiled the jars first that I could process the dilly beans for 5 minutes.

What if I do quart jars?

And, what about the fact that EVERY jar from the other day (only 7 thankfully) has product sticking up out of the brine? I read one post from Gardenlad that told someone to flip them every two weeks and all would be well. Yes?

For pickled foods, in quarts you add 5 min. to the pint processing time.
I skip the boiling and process pints 10 min. I have enough stuff on the burners to keep hot without messing with the boiling jars.
If they are above the brine, then I would turn them over to get the tops pickled.

Yes, I do that here too. Sometimes my brine isn't quite to the top of the veggie inside and so I flip them over for about a wek or two. By that time, they are well pickled and you can flip them back over again to store them. If it were a jelly with suspended bits inside, then you would keep flipping them to get the stuff to stay in suspension once the jelly sets. This was true with the apple pie jam (soon apple season will be here).

Helen,
Make sure those jars are fully cooled before you start flipping. You wouldn't to mess up a seal.
Melly