Dave's Kitchen - Pickled Cranberries

 

 

 

 Pickled Cranberries

 

It has been brought to our attention that the recipe for pickled cranberries was inadvertently

not included in our book, "Preserving Fruits, Nuts, and Vegetables".

We will be updating the book file so that future purchases will include the recipe, but for those

of you that have already purchased the book, we are posting the recipe here.

And we welcome anyone else to save and try this recipe.

They're one of the best pickled foods you'll ever make!

 

Dave's Pickled Cranberries

 

The recipe is really simple, just use your favorite "Sweet Pickle" recipe and use cranberries instead of cucumbers.  This is the recipe I use, and that Susan can't seem to get enough of.  :)

 1. Make your liquid, mix 2 parts vinegar(I use white) to 1 part water and for each quart you make.  Add 4 cups sugar and bring it to a boil.

 

2. Slice or coarsely chop the cranberries.  They will not absorb the liquid and flavors whole.

 

This is where preference comes in.

 

3. Add your spices and/or other flavorings.  I use:

  2 Tablespoons "Pickling
  Spice(Mccormick)

  1 Tablespoon Mustard Seeds   

  2 Tablespoons
  Salt
  8-10 Whole Cloves

  1 Cinnamon Stick
  (Optional) Dill

  Garlic

  Sliced or Chopped Onion
  Jalapeno

  Pepper

 4. Add the "Flavorings" to the bottom of the jar (the above measurements are for a quart jar), fill to around 1/2 inch from the rim of the jar with the cranberries and pour in the boiling liquid (sugar-vinegar-water) leaving "NO" headspace. Make sure the jar rim is clean, put the lid on tight and set the jar aside until it cools enough to handle(but still hot).

5. When the jar cools, shake it thoroughly to make sure everything is mixed and any air bubbles rise to the top.

That's it.  The jars will seal as they cool.  No water bath canning needed.  They'll keep for months.  For longest shelf life store in a cool, dark place.

 

 

We're not making this post to try and sell books, but if you want to look at

the book on Amazon, or purchase a copy, click on the link below the picture. 

 

 

http://amzn.to/1qleBiP

 

 

Please leave comments or questions below, or email them to:

 

povertyprepping@yahoo.com

 

Thank you!

 

Dave

Susan

Dave's Kitchen - Dried Cranberries

 

Dried Cranberries

To dehydrate cranberries they have to be cut or they will just cook and swell up before they dry. I had sliced each berry in half with a knife to fill the first 5 gallon bucket but I got smart and chopped them in a food processor for the second. The picture attached was with the berries ran through the food processor. It really sped up the process.
 

They can be used pretty much the same way as you would use fresh, just soak them in water first. To make cranberry sauce, just put them in a pot of boiling water with sugar and they will cook up great. They have a high pectin content and will form a thick sauce when they cool, just like a fruit jelly. They also make a good tea, just pour boiling water on some in a cup and let it sit for a while and drink hot or add ice and drink it cold - add some sugar if you like.

 

I add them to sweet potatoes when baking them with brown sugar(candied sweet potatoes), add them to the dish dry and they will soak up liquid as they cook. They also go good in pumpkin or sweet potato bread, add them dry and they cook up fine. If you add fresh berries to the batter they will be soft and mushy in the loaf but added dry they do well.

 

My daughter brought in 4 more bags of fresh cranberries yesterday that I haven't done anything with yet. I'm going to slice them and soak them in sugar before I dry them and see what they come out like. That may make a good snack item(if we're lucky), nothing like experimenting to learn something new, huh?