ok, it's working now, sorry! Is there a way to delete this?!!!

Sorry, I don't think there's any way to delete it except to ask the site administrators, but that's more trouble than it's worth.

If you try to respond on a thread where you posted shortly before, it will reject your message. All you have to do is use the back arrow and change the subject heading in your message to something like "Reply" or "Requested Recipe" or whatever and then it'll accept it.

OK, if you're canning your mixed veggies, I'm assuming you packed the clean, hot jars with the veggies, brought the brine mixture to a boil and poured it over the contents of the jars, leaving 1/2" headspace. Mixed veggies like this, which can be quite dense, should be processed 20 minutes for pints (as per instructions from "Joy of Pickling"). Did the instructions say 5 minutes because that's really short for this kind of product.

If you canned the veggies within the last 24 hours, I'd recommend either refrigerating or open the jars, empty contents, clean jars, new lids, re-pack, bring brine back to a boil and re-process the longer time. The veggies may soften, but you don't have safety worries. Obviously, refrigerating is simpler, if you have the room.

Someone else may have a different suggestion, but that's my take on it.

Thanks for the feedback about the error message. I tried to change the subject, but I just put a period so that must be why! I decided to process them, and I did it for 15 min and then left them in for another 5, do you think that was ok? I did that before I read your post.

See..how it works, look at the subject above

I don't have an answer for you on the processing time. My guess is the risk is low, but that's only a guess. If you think about it, 15 minutes is a 25% reduction in processing time compared to 20. The 5 minutes holding time following processing is standard for any BWB recipe.

The processing time for mixed vegetable pickles I suggested was based on raw vegetables packed in the jar with a boiling 50% vinegar-50% water mixture. That was as close as I could come to your recipe.

You have a higher proportion of vinegar, so that helps, but to what degree I don't know. If your vegetables were hot-packed with 100% vinegar (vegetables brought to a boil in the spiced vinegar) then the processing time could potentially be as short as 5 minutes. You can see what I mean by checking the Mixed Vegetable Pickle recipe in this USDA/Utah State guide.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Pickled Mixed Vegetables

The veggies were cooked in the pickling liquid for 15 mintues. They are tender like the ones you buy at the store, but still crisp.

If they are canned in that, then at about 6 months from now, they will get even softer due to the acid in the vinegar. If your using ALL vinegar, you need only to heat it to just being hot, and to pour it over the fresh room temp veggies and then cap and process in a BWB at about 10 minutes per quart. Don't forget the pickling salt. I see peppers, cauliflower, carrot slices, celery, cukes, and pepperoncini peppers canned that way in a pickled liqid that is sold commercially at BJ's. After pickling, the brine tends to spread the heat of the peppers throughout the jars contents. I have to dilute the brine and add a bit of Splenda to enjoy them as they are heat on the tongue for a couple of hours afterwards. The least amount of heat cooking prior to canning will help keep the veggies a bit crisper.