Grandma Halls Sweet Cucumber Pickles Recipes

BEST EVER SWEET PICKLES

Steps:

• In a large nonreactive bowl, combine cucumbers, onion and salt. Cover with crushed ice and mix well. Let stand 3 hours. Drain; rinse and drain thoroughly., In a Dutch oven, combine sugar, water, vinegars, mustard seed, celery seed and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add cucumber mixture; return to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 4-5 minutes or until heated through., Carefully ladle hot mixture into 4 hot wide-mouth 1-pint jars, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Add 3 garlic cloves and 1 bay leaf to each jar. Remove air bubbles and, if necessary, adjust headspace by adding hot pickling liquid. Wipe rims. Center lids on jars; screw on bands until fingertip tight. , Place jars into canner with simmering water, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil; process for 10 minutes. Remove jars and cool.

GRANDMA'S SWEET PICKLES

Steps:

• 1. Soak cucumbers in water and lime for 24 hours.
• 2. Wash in clean water and soak in fresh water for 3 hours.
• 3. Combine remaining ingredients add cucumbers and soak overnight.
• 4. Boil pickles in soaking liquid until pickles are clear about 1 1/2 hour.
• 5. Pour into hot sterilized jars, seal. Process in hot water bath for 5 minutes. Makes 7 pints.

OLD FASHIONED SWEET CUCUMBER PICKLE

Steps:

• Please note that I use whatever quantities of cucumbers I have on hand, adjusting the quantity of brines and syrup to cover the cucumbers generously. You will need more brine to cover the cukes initially than you will need syrup later as there is a lot of shrinkage. Therefore I don't guarantee the above quantities will all work out exactly but each solution is easy to adjust to what you need. Start with what you think will cover the cucumbers and just make a little more if you need it.
• The use of alum is no longer recommended in home canning - I have noticed that some of the big pickle companies still use it and so do I in these pickles. It makes them crisp. I have made them without and they were not nearly as good.
• Day# 1.
• Prepare the salt/water brine by heating together until salt dissolves. It will cool sufficiently while you prepare the cucumbers.
• Wash the cucumbers in cold water. If they are less than 1 1/2" inches in diameter slice them in 3/8" - 1/2" slices. Larger ones may be halved or quartered and the seeds scooped out then cut into pickle-sized chunks.
• Put the cucumbers in a container (a large crock is preferred but hard to come by anymore - a plastic pail works fine). Do not use metal.
• Pour the salt/water brine over the cucumbers to cover. Place a plate over the cucumbers to submerge them. Put a weight on it (plastic vinegar bottle perhaps?). Cover with a cloth. Let stand 7 days.
• Day#8.
• Your pickles might not look very nice after 7 days but they are okay. Drain the brine off (dump in a clean sink), rinse the pickles and pail, put cucumbers back in and cover with plain hot water. Let stand till next day, (day# 9) drain again, and cover with alum/water solution (again heated to dissolve alum). Let stand one day.
• Day# 10.
• Drain pickles and return to pail. Prepare syrup by combining sugar and vinegar in a large (not aluminum) pot. Tie the pickling spice in a piece of cheesecloth and put in pot. Add a couple of drops of green food coloring and several of yellow. Bring to boil, simmer 10 minutes. Pour over cucumbers, submerge the spice bag in the pail.
• Every day, for 3 days, (days 11-12-13) drain the syrup into a pot, reheat and pour back over the pickles. Each day check the color, correcting it with yellow food coloring - it rarely needs anymore green.
• On day #14 put the pickles in sterilized jars, adding a piece of cinnamon stick and a few whole cloves to each jar. Heat brine, (discard spice bag)and pour in jars to cover pickles, leaving a little head space. Seal with 2 piece lids.
• Modern canning instructions would now call for these to be processed in a water bath for 10 minutes. I do not. If the odd jar doesn't seal I refrigerate it and use it first. In a cool dark place these pickles will keep a long time (I usually make a 2 year supply) Time and servings guestimated.

SWEET CUCUMBER PICKLES

Steps:

• * The x-large yellow cucumbers are a particular type. If they are not available to you, regular cucumbers will do but increase the number to 12.
• Pare the cucumbers and quarter, removing the seeds.
• Cut into strips and halve.
• Combine the salt and water in a large kettle, stirring to dissolve the salt.
• Add the cucumber strips and allow to sit in the brine about 12 hours.
• DRAIN WELL.
• In a kettle, combine vinegar, sugar and spices. (The spices may be tied into a cheesecloth bag or left in the pot. I leave them in the pot).
• Heat to boiling, adding enough cucumber strips to cover the bottom of the pan, cooking until just slightly transparent.
• Remove the pickles to sterilized jars and repeat til all the cucumbers have been cooked.
• Pour the hot 'syrup' into the pickle jars (to within 1/2 inch from the rim), keeping any leftover syrup.
• DO NOT SEAL THE JARS! Cover the jars and each morning for the next 3 days, drain off the 'syrup' into your kettle (with any leftover syrup, boiling for 5 minutes & pour over the pickles.
• Follow this last step each of the following 3 days. SEAL on the third day.
• Brine time (12 hrs) is not included nor are the 3 days -- .

GRANDMA'S SPICY SWEET PICKLES

Steps:

• Slice cucumbers about 1/8 inch thick.
• Pour salt over cucumbers.
• Pour enough boiling water over all to cover.
• Stir and let stand 8 hours or overnight.
• Drain and discard brine.
• In a saucepan, combine vinegar, 1 cup sugar, spices and alum.
• Bring to a boil.
• Put cucumbers in a large glass jar or plastic bucket with lid or a stoneware crock.
• Pour boiling vinegar mixture over cucumbers.
• Cover and let stand.
• Next day, and each consecutive day for 5 days total, stir in one additional cup of sugar.
• Do not reheat when sugar is added.
• At the end of the 5th day, pickles are done and may be stored in covered jar.
• Do not seal jars.
• Pickles will keep indefinitely and get better with age.

GRANDMA ARNDT'S PICKLES

Steps:

• Make a brine by dissolving 1/2 cup of salt in 4 cups water in a large container, place the cucumber spears into the brine, and let stand overnight.
• The next day, drain the cucumbers, rinse well with water, and set aside.
• Combine the sugar, vinegar, 1 cup of water, mustard seeds, celery seed, turmeric, and pickling salt in a large nonreactive pot, and bring to a boil. Add the carrot sticks, and boil for 2 minutes, until the carrots are cooked but not mushy. Stir in the pepper slices and cucumbers, and bring back to a boil.
• Sterilize canning jars and lids in boiling water for at least 5 minutes. Pack the pickles into the hot, sterilized jars, filling the jars to within 1/4 inch of the top. Run a knife or a thin spatula around the insides of the jars after they have been filled to remove any air bubbles. Wipe the rims of the jars with a moist paper towel to remove any food residue. Top with lids, and screw on rings. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes, remove the jars, and let cool to room temperature.
• Once cool, press the top of each lid with a finger, ensuring that the seal is tight (lid does not move up or down at all). Store in a cool, dark area.

GRANDMA HALL'S SWEET CUCUMBER PICKLES

Steps:

• 1st day-.
• Slice cucumbers peeland de-seed and soak in 2 gallons of water with 1 cup lime.
• 2nd day-.
• Rinse cucumbers good and mix the sugar and other spices and rinsed cucumbers in vinegar mixture and soak for 12 hours. Cover rinsed cucumbers with ice while mixing vinegar mixture. Be sure to drain cucumbers well, before adding to liquid.
• 3rd day-.
• Drain vinegar off cucumbers and heat to boiling, then add cucumbers and cook 20 minutes. Pack in jars and seal while hot. Can use green food coloring if desired.