Pickled Okra

Instructions

Prepare for canning by sterilizing jars and lids:

1. Put a steamer rack at the bottom of a large (16 quart) pot, and place the jars on the rack.
2. Fill the pot with water to the rim of the jars. (Note if you don’t have a level steamer rack you can put a clean dish towel at the bottom of the pot, you just don’t want the jars touching the bottom of the pot or they may break from the heat.) Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 10 minutes.
3. To sterilize the lids, place lids in a large bowl and pour boiling water over them.

Prepare Okra:

1. Boil vinegar, water, salt, and sugar: Place vinegar, water, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil to dissolve the salt and sugar, reduce heat and keep warm.
2. While the water is heating in step two, prepare the okra and the spices. Rinse the okra and trim the stem ends to ¼-inch.
3. Place all pickling spices in a small bowl and stir to combine.

Pack lemon slices, spices, garlic in hot jars:

1. Lay out a clean towel on your counter. Use canning tongs to remove the jars from the boiling water, emptying the water from the jars.
2. Place the hot, sterilized jars on the towel on your counter. Placing the hot jars on a towel will help prevent them from getting shocked by a cold counter surface and potentially cracking.
3. Place a lemon slice at the bottom of each jar. Add a tablespoon of the mixed pickling spices to each jar. Place a peeled garlic clove on top of the spices and lemon.

Pack okra in the jars:

1. Pack the okra in the jars, alternating stem-side-up and stem-side-down to allow you to pack the okra well into the jars. The top of the okra should come between an inch to ½ an inch from the rim of the jar.

Pour vinegar mixture over the okra:

1. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the jars, up to ¼-inch from the rim of the jars. Run a thin knife between the okra and the jars to dislodge any obvious air bubbles.
2. Okra is filled with air, so while you run the knife between the okra and the jars, air bubbles will be released from within the okra as well. If the top level of the pickling liquid lowers while you do this, just top off with more of the pickling liquid.
3. If for any reason you don’t have enough pickling liquid for all the jars, just add equal amounts of cider vinegar and water. No need to heat first, the liquid will get boiled in the hot water bath.

Wipe rims, screw lids on jars:

1. Wipe the rims with a clean damp towel. Place sterilized lids on jars. Screw on the lids, firmly, but not too tight.

Boil the okra filled jars:

1. Place packed jars back in the pot with the water you used to sterilize the jars. The water should still be hot. Because you are putting back in full jars, rather than empty jars, some water will be displaced. Allow for 1 to 2 inches of water to cover the jars. Beyond that you may want to remove excess water.
2. Bring to a boil and process for 15 minutes. Remove to towel lined counter or to a rack (you want to avoid putting a hot jar on a cold surface, or else the jar might crack.)

Let jars cool:

1. As the jars cook, you should hear a popping sound as the vacuum created by the cooling air in the jars pulls the lid down and seals the jars. A properly sealed jar can last in a cool closet out of direct sun for about a year.
2. If any jars do not seal, store them chilled in the refrigerator. Opened jars should last one to two months in the refrigerator
3. Let sit 24 hours before eating.