I always just use 4 qts and never though to weigh them. Any input is appreciated.

Here's the ingredient list for reference:

4 quarts sliced medium-sized cucumbers, unpeeled and sliced thin
6 medium white onions, sliced
2 green bell peppers, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1/3 cup salt
5 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
2 tablespoons mustard seed
3 cups vinegar, 5% acidity

My recipe is by weight.

But to answer your question, 6 pounds medium cucumbers would yield approx. 4 quarts sliced.

Carol

Using your calculations of 6 lbs of medium cucumbers = approx. 4 quarts sliced, how many pints of Bread and Butter Pickles would this yield?

Could you post your Bread and Butter Pickle recipe too?

10 pounds of cucumbers using this recipe will normally yield about 13 pints. I increase other ingredients proportionately but double the salt brine and the syrup.

Compared to your recipe, this has fewer onions and no peppers, so the volume of low-acid veggies to pickling solution is somewhat lower.

Crosscut Pickle Slices

Categories: Canning & Preserving Pickles and Relishes

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
6 pounds medium cucumbers -- (4 quarts)
1 pound small onions -- (1 1/2 cups)
2 large garlic cloves
1/3 cup salt -- (canning & pickling)
2 quarts ice -- crushed or cubes
4 1/2 cups sugar -- (can reduce by 1/2 cup)
1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
2 tablespoons mustard seed
3 cups white vinegar

Wash cucumbers thoroughly, using a vegetable brush; drain on rack.

Slice unpeeled cucumbers into 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch slices; discard ends. Add onions and garlic.

Add salt and mix thoroughly; cover with crushed ice or ice cubes; let stand 3 hours. Drain thoroughly; remove garlic cloves.

Combine sugar, spices, and vinegar; heat just to boiling. Add drained cucumber and onion slices and heat 5 minutes.

Pack hot pickles loosely into hot pint jars to 1/2 inch of top. Adjust jar lids.

Process in boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove jars. Set upright to cool. It will take 4-5 weeks for these to develop their best flavor.

Yield: 7 pints

Carol

Just one more question, can you reduce the salt?

Michelle

As you can see, the recipe I posted, with approximately 18 cups of product yields 7 pints. The recipe you posted has about 50% more than that (more onions and the green pepper) so I'd guess you'd end up with about a dozen pints, give or take.

One concern I have with the recipe you posted is that it has more veggies but the same amount of syrup as the one I posted. If I were making it, I'd double the syrup. I keep thinking as written it has the potential to tend to the dense and drier end.

I hope this helps.

Carol

The salt is a dietary problem. But I was thinking that if you rinsed the cucumber mix, it would remove some of the salt.

The 4 quarts of cucumbers in the recipe I posted, is 4 quarts of whole pickling cucumbers, not 4 quarts of sliced cucumbers.

I've made my recipe twice now and both times it made exactly 4 pints of pickles. The recipe says it yields "about 4 pints".

Michelle

Dave

The Bread and Butter pickles are not made with whole cucumbers.

In the ingredient list the "4 quarts of cucumbers" means 4 quarts of whole cucumbers. So you take a quart basket and fill it with cucumbers. Then the cucumbers are sliced into 1/8-1/4" slices.

Michelle

It goes against all recipe conventions to read that as 4 quarts of whole cucumbers, sliced (which would say just that). As I read it, the intent of the recipe is a total of 4 quarts of cucumber slices. But if you used 4 quarts of medium cucumbers, sliced, that certainly would reduce the volume of the recipe. In fact, it would probably be bread-and-butter onions as much as anything.

Carol

Dave