Recipe for Home Canned Sweet Pickles

Thinly Sliced, Heat Processed Cucumbers Are Tasty and Versatile

Jul 30, 2009 Jan Czech

Known as crystal pickles, these sugary slices improve everything from sandwiches to salad dressing. In a few easy steps the home canner can produce this tasty treat.

Canning is the best way to preserve food at home that is fresher, more delicious and healthier than that purchased in a super market. With the proper canning equipment, the freshest vegetables, fruits, spices and even meats, the home canner will produce food that runs the gamut from salty to sweet, hot to sour and every taste combination in between. She may use recipes that have been passed down for generations or those that have been newly developed for the twenty first century palate. An example of the former is syrupy sweet crystal pickles. The multiple steps and number of days it takes to produce these pickles may look complicated but they are deceptively easy and well worth the patience required. Home canners from novice to seasoned will serve them proudly.

Canning Equipment

  • Six pint size clean Mason or Ball jars
  • Six lids and screw bands
  • A boiling water canner or large, deep pot with a lid and a rack
  • A pickle crock or very large, heavy mixing bowl. Be sure it is not any type of metal.
  • A medium size sauce pan
  • A sharp knife or food processor with a slicer or a mandolin to slice cucumbers
  • Measuring cups and measuring spoons
  • Canning funnel, (optional)
  • Wooden mixing spoon
  • Small ladle

Ingredients to Make Sweet Crystal Pickles

  • 8 – 5 inch cucumbers
  • 2 cups brown vinegar
  • Water
  • 2 tsp. alum
  • 1/4 cup salt – canning salt or kosher salt – not iodized table salt.
  • 2 cups white vinegar
  • 6 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp. mixed pickling spice

Directions for Making Sweet Crystal Pickles

  1. Place whole cucumbers in crock or large bowl and cover with brine, (1/4 cup salt to 1 quart water). Let stand 3 days, stirring every day.
  2. On the fourth day, drain contents of crock. After draining thoroughly, return whole cucumbers to crock. Cover with very cold water. Change water every day for 3 days.
  3. On fourth day drain thoroughly. Cut cucumbers into thin slices and return to crock.
  4. In sauce pan, combine brown vinegar, 2 cups water and alum. Bring to a boil. Pour immediately over sliced cucumbers. Let stand 2 days.
  5. On third day drain pickles and discard vinegar mixture. Return pickles to crock.
  6. In sauce pan, combine white vinegar, sugar, and pickling spice. The amount of sugar may be reduced depending on the desired sweetness of the finished pickles. Heat the vinegar, sugar, spice mixture to a simmer. Do not boil.
  7. Pour over pickles. Reheat mixture and pour over pickles each day for 3 days.
  8. Pack jars with heated pickles, leaving ½” of head room. Ladle hot liquid over pickles. Remove air pockets. Wipe jar rim and screw on lids until they are finger tip tight.
  9. Put jars in canner being sure that tops are covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for ten minutes.
  10. Remove from canner. Cool and store.

These pickles are yummy on sandwiches. They make a great addition to a platter comprised of other pickled vegetables. They can brighten up a bland meal and the liquid can be used as a base for a surprising sweet and vinegary salad dressing. But, perhaps the best way to enjoy crystal pickles is alone, fresh out of the jar.

The copyright of the article Recipe for Home Canned Sweet Pickles in Recipes is owned by Jan Czech. Permission to republish Recipe for Home Canned Sweet Pickles in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
An Antique Pickle Crock, Jan Czech
An Antique Pickle Crock
    
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