Pickling Cucumbers

[OceanSpray]

Exactly as the title says- I’ve been trying my hand at growing some food this year. Some of it has been a bust but some of it has exploded. I have so many cucumbers. So freaking many. I have no idea what to do with the easily 60 cucumbers I have (and still more on the vine that I haven’t picked yet).

But, while I hate pickles, my niece could live on them. I bought a canning and pickling set thing ish but I wanted to jump on here before starting to see if anyone has any tips or tricks or literally any advice.

 

[Friday]

STERILE.

Boil all of the pieces (glass, metal; jars, rings, lids, tongs) for a bare minimum of 10 minutes, 20 is better, before jarring, vinegaring & spicing, & boiling to seal, again. The second boil-to-seal is “theoretically” enough. But if you don’t do the first boil? About 1/3 - 3/5th will spoil with 6mo. Kill the germs, add food, kill the germs again = a pickle that will last a decade instead of months.

 

[Rose White]

My recommendation is to use the pickling lime to keep them crisp. You have to soak the spears, slices, whatever, for about six hours then rinse them off, then do the canning, but it’s pretty satisfying to have that crunch.