First time canning. Question.

[rbeau30]

Awesome. Do you soak them in water before you pickle ? Using the vinegar method ?
Also I got the BALL book , and the jar grabber should make things a bit easier.

I have like 3 of those things, they are awesome. I don't want to ever be without one.

Using the vinegar method, I have "washed" off the pickles with a vinegar and water solution just like I do all of my veggies before I can them. Vinegar is a natural disinfectant, and it is food safe.

When I ferment my pickles I just rinse them quickly so all of the dirt and grime from the field is off of them. The lactobacillus buggies are what I want, so I don't want to make my veggies sterile before I start them in the fermenting crock. The salt brine is what keeps the bad stuff at bay, so the good bugs can start doing their thing.

The Ball Blue Book of canning is an excellent resource that I use at all times as well as a document put out by the USDA here: http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/pu...ions_usda.html (Guide #6 has some information on fermented foods and canning them) Ha Ha I had to put my Fermented Food plug in there!