Do I need a wire rack when I make pickles?

Question

I'm planning on making some pickles. All the recipes I've seen say I need to put the jars on a wire rack in a pot, so that the jar don't touch the sides of the pot. Is this really necessary? Is there some way to rig up a substitute? I don't have a wire rack.

Answer 1

Emily --- My wife and I make pickles every year and we never use a wire rack to heat the jars. We use a 6qt.dutch oven with about 4"of water in it bring water to a boil lower heat to a simmer and place 4 qt. jar's at a time in it [ tops down ]

Have all of your jar's cleaned and ready so it is easy to take a jar out and put one back in using a kitchen towel to handle jars by the time you get

the fourth jar out the fifth jar will be hot just keep the circle going. I hope this helps you It works for us and we have never had a problem. jim b

Answer 2

yes you would really need the wires, because what that does is, it prevents the jars' bottoms from getting too hot and shattering.  basically, all you need, is something like a steamer, which keeps the jar above the bottom, and has holes.

Answer 3

Bring your pot of water to the boil.

Heat your glass jars in the sink.

Remove pan from heat and lower them into the pot, standing on end after allowing them to fill up and top with boiled water from the jug.

I normally wipe with a clean towel and dry in a warm oven.