Best Bread and Butter Pickles

Ingredients

5 lbs. pickling cucumbers, sliced 1/4" thick (16 cups when sliced)

2 lbs. onions, halves and thinly sliced (6 cups when sliced)

1/3 cup pickling salt (or 1/2 cup kosher salt)

3-1/2 cups vinegar; use white or cider or half-and-half combination

4 cups sugar

10 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons mustard seeds

1-1/2 teaspoons celery seeds

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon turmeric

Directions

Combine sliced cucumbers, onions, and salt in large bowl; toss to combine; cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours (or as long as 12 hours). Drain in colander, rinse well under running water for 2 minutes, tossing vegetables as they are rinsing. Drain.

In 8-quart pot, combine vinegar, sugar, garlic, mustard and celery seeds, pepper flakes, cloves, and turmeric; heat over high heat until boiling. Add cucumber/onion mixture, stir, and return to boil. Turn off heat.

Use tongs or a slotted spoon to fill hot pint jars with cucumber/onion mixture, filling to just below where the jar rim begins, pressing down with tongs/spoon to fill in any gaps in jars. Ladle hot vinegar liquid into jars, allowing 1/2 headspace.

Insert chopstick or bubble remover down sides of jars, drawing it towards the center to release any trapped bubbles; refill jars, if necessary, to restore 1/2" headspace. Clean jar rims with wet paper towel. Add lids to each jar; screw on rings just until finger tight.

Bring water to a boil in water process canner, add jars making sure there is at least 1" of water over top of jars. Cover canner, return water to a boil, and process jars for 10 minutes. Remove lid and turn off heat, leaving jars in water for 5 minutes. Use jar lift to remove jars vertically from water and rest on towel undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours.

Store jars in cool dark place. Shelf stable for at least 1 year.