How to Make Mustard Pickles - Great-Grandma's Recipe

Step 1

Place cucumbers and onions in a large stainless steel or glass bowl.

Step 2

Mix 1 cup of pickling/canning salt with 8 cups of cold water (double this as needed if doing a larger batch of pickles). Pour over top of cucumbers and onions, add more cold water if necessary to cover the tops of the cucumbers. Use a clean plate and place on top of the cucumbers to keep them under the surface of the ice salt water.

Step 3

Fill a pint sized Mason jar with water (use a lid) and set it on top of the plate to act as a weight. Let soak for 1 to 2 hours on the counter or put the bowl in the fridge overnight or for 12 hours.

Step 4

After soaking cucumbers and onions, pour out salt water and rinse thoroughly with cold water and allow cucumbers to drain.

Step 5

Prepare water bath canner and begin warming the water.

Step 6

In a large stainless steel pot, combine sugar, dry mustard and turmeric, celery salt, and ClearJel®, then pour in a ½ cup of water, whisking until combined and smooth. Pour in vinegar and bring to a full boil while stirring.

Step 7

Once it’s reached a full boil, lower heat to a simmer and stir until it thickens up, then add the cucumbers and the onions and bring to a boil. When it reaches a boil with the vegetables added, keep at a low boil and cook for 5 minutes, stir as needed.

Step 8

In jars just washed in hot soapy water and rinsed, pack the relish/pickle mixture to a ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and add more product if needed to keep the ½ inch headspace. Clean the rim, put on lid and bands, and screw down to finger tip tight. Place filled jar into your water bath canner. Make sure at least 1 inch of water covers the top of the jars.

Step 9

Bring water to a full boil, once water is boiling, process pints for 10 minutes.

Step 10

Turn off heat, remove lid, and let jars sit in canner for 5 minutes. Then remove from canner and let cool and seal on a folded towel.