Categories: pickles

Ingredients

• 1 gallon medium-sized cucumbers
• 2 cups salt
• 1 gallon plus 1 qt. water, divided use
• 3 qt. vinegar
• 1 tsp. alum
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 Tbsp. pickling spice
• Additional sugar if desired for sweeter pickles

Directions

1. Wash cucumbers and cover with a 10% brine (2 cups salt to 1 gal. water). Let stand in brine for 3 to 4 days, then drain.
2. Each day of the next three days again cover the cucumbers with cold water, let them stand in water 24 hours, and again repeat the process.
3. On the seventh day, slice the cucumbers and put them in a vessel. Cover with a vinegar and water solution (1 qt. vinegar, 1 qt. water) to which 1 tsp. of alum has been added.
4. Bring cucumbers to a boil, but do not boil them. Let stand and cool. Remove cucumbers and discard the vinegar. Pack cucumbers into sterilized jars. Make a syrup, using 1 qt. vinegar, 2 cups sugar and 2 Tbsp. pickling spices. Simmer the syrup for 1 minute and pour it over the cucumbers. Then seal and process in boiling water for 5 minutes.
5. If a sweeter pickle is desired, drain syrup from pickles, add 1 cup sugar, heat as before, and pour over the pickles. Repeat, adding 1 cup sugar to syrup each day until the pickles have the desired sweetness.

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