If canning, prepare a water bath canner, jars, and rings before beginning. The canner should be pre-heated to just barely simmering, around 180 F.
Wash your cherry tomatoes under cold water.
Wash and peel the garlic.
With a thin metal skewer, carefully prick each tomato to prevent them from bursting.
In a large saucepan, combine salt, vinegar, and water.
Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it simmer for 10 minutes.
Pack the cherry tomatoes into hot jars, leaving a half inch of headspace.
Add one clove of garlic and one sprig to each pint jar.
If using pickle crisp, add 1/8 tsp to each jar pint jar.
Ladle the hot pickling liquid over the cherry tomatoes, leaving ½ inch of headspace.
Remove any air bubbles that may have formed and clean the jar rims.
Center the lids on the jars and adjust the bands to fingertip tight.
Place the filled jars onto a pre-heated water bath canner. Make sure the water covers the jars by one inch.
Adjust the heat to high, cover the canner, and bring the water to a rolling boil.
Process pint jars for 10 minutes (adjusting for altitude, see notes).
Turn off the heat and remove the cover.
Remove the jars from the canner. Don't retighten the bands if they’re loose.
Let the jars cool for 12 hours at room temperature.
Check to make sure the seals are tight, label the jars, and store.