Recipe by What's Cooking America on August 8, 2015
Cook time: PT11520M
Craven County Sweet Pickles Recipe
- Soak the cucumbers in ice cold water for 30 minutes. Drain. Trim off the ends of the cucumbers, then slice (a mandoline is best) into 1/4-inch slices.
- Place sliced cucumbers in a large non-reactive container (stainless steel or porcelain) and cover with boiling water. There will be a foam on the cucumbers for this first application of boiling water, but you will not have any foam after that.
- Do not cover the container with a lid. This is because the water is so hot, and you do not want to cook the pickles – just “scald” them.
- Let sit until Day 2.
- The cucumbers do not have to be refrigerated during the five (5) day process. You want the ingredients to be at room temperature and the water you pour over them to be at the boiling point when you are processing.
- Drain off water (do not rinse the pickles) and cover with fresh boiling water and pickling salt mixture.
- Pickling salt mixture = 1 1/2 cups pickling salt to 1 gallon boiling water
- Drain off water/salt mixture.
- Do not rinse the pickles after the salt step. Just drain the water mixture off and proceed to the next step.
- Cover with fresh boiling water and alum mixture.
- Alum mixture = 2 1/2 tablespoons alum to 1 gallon boiling water
- Drain off alum water and discard.
- Do not rinse the pickles after the alum step. Just drain the water mixture off and proceed to the next step.
- Boil together enough cider vinegar and pickling spices to cover the cucumber slices. (1 gallon cider vinegar and 3 tablespoons pickling spices wrapped in cheese cloth).
- Pour prepared cider vinegar/pickling spices over the cucumber slices.
- I place a towel on top of the container, with a rubber band around the pot/towel to hold in place. I do this because the vinegar smell is so strong . I then put the container in the garage so they will not smell up the house.
- Let the cucumbers sit in the vinegar solution, covering the top with a towel to keep “whatever out.” Do not cover the mixture with a lid.
- Take cucumbers out of cider vinegar; drain off cider vinegar and dispose (or throw away) the vinegar and spice sack. I do not put the spices back into my pickles. I am sure it would be okay if you did, but I do not like having the spices in my pickles.
- I put my jars, lids, and rings into the dishwasher and run on a regular cycle with dishwasher detergent. If you do not have a dishwasher, just wash as you would regular dishes and rinse with VERY hot water. This way you can be assured that your end product will be free of contaminants that may have been in the jar previously.
- General Rule: For every five (5) cups of sliced cucumbers, add two (2) cups of granulated sugar (you want to thoroughly cover the cucumbers as you would if you were flouring a piece of chicken to deep fry).
- When I pack the jars, I put approximately a dozen slices of pickles and then 1/4 cup of sugar sprinkled around on the slices – then another dozen or so pickles slices and another 1/4 cup of sugar until you have filled up the jar. You will end up with approximately one (1) cup of sugar per quart jar.
- As the sugar dissolves it “pulls out” the vinegar from the pickles and makes a sweet light syrup. When the sugar has dissolved, if you do not have syrup high enough in the jar to cover all of the pickles just add more sugar. I like to let my pickles age for a week and then refrigerate – they are fantastic cold.
- Make sure the pickles are covered with the vinegar/sugar liquid or your top cucumbers will turn darker.
- NOTE: The sugar sometimes does just sit on the bottom. I turn my jars upside down from time to time so the sugar will travel from the bottom to the top (which is now in the lower position). As you do this, the sugar will dissolve and draw the vinegar out of the pickles and make a syrup that will cover them. I turn the jars until the sugar has completely dissolved. It may take a few turns; however, you can also hold the jar in your hand and turn it back and forth to speed up the process.
- Your jars will not be sealed but your pickles will be preserved. You can eat these sweet pickles immediately, but are much better if they are allowed to sit in the syrup for a week or so.
- I prefer my pickles cold – straight from the refrigerator. They are a better taste and texture. You can store the pickles in a cool, dark place for many years.
- Yield: 35 pounds of cucumbers yielded approximately 18 quarts of sweet pickles.