Old Fashioned Sweet Nine Day Pickles Recipes

EIGHT-DAY ICICLE PICKLES

Steps:

• Day 1: Place the cucumbers into a large (10-quart) jar or pickle crock. Stir the pickling salt and 16 cups of water (or as needed to cover the cucumbers) into a large pot, and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the salt is dissolved. Pour the boiling salt mixture over the cucumbers, and cover the crock with a cover or dinner plate.
• Days 2 and 3: Stir the pickles and brine once each day. Cover the crock each time.
• Day 4: Pour off the brine. Bring 16 more cups of water to a boil, and pour the boiling water over the pickles. Cover.
• Day 5: Pour off the water from the pickles again, and bring alum and 16 cups of water to a boil. Stir until the alum is completely dissolved. Pour the boiling water-alum mixture over the pickles. Cover.
• Day 6: In a large pot, boil 16 more cups of water with the sugar, pickling spice, vinegar, and food coloring. Pour the water-alum mixture from the pickles and discard, and pour the boiling sugar mixture over the pickles. Cover.
• Day 7: Pour off the syrup from the pickles, but retain the syrup. Transfer the syrup into a large pot, bring to a boil again, and pour over the pickles. Cover.
• Day 8: Pour off and retain the syrup again, and transfer into a large pot. Reboil the syrup over medium heat. Sterilize the jars and lids in boiling water for at least 5 minutes. Pack the pickles into the hot, sterilized jars, and pour the boiling syrup in, 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.
• Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then carefully lower the jars into the pot using a holder. Leave a 2 inch space between the jars. Pour in more boiling water if necessary until the water level is at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars. Bring the water to a full boil, cover the pot, and process for 15 minutes.
• Remove the jars from the stockpot and place onto a cloth-covered or wood surface, several inches apart, until cool. 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.

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.

CRAVEN COUNTY SWEET PICKLES RECIPE:

Steps:

• 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.

OLD FASHIONED SWEET NINE DAY PICKLES

Steps:

• STEP ONE: Cut cucumbers in 1/2 inch pieces or a little larger and place in a crock or large glass container. Bring the soaking brine to a boil, pour over cut cucumbers, cover with a clean cloth and weigh down with a plate. Cover crock with a clean tea towel.
• Let stand three days.
• STEP TWO: Drain, put back in crock and cover with fresh water. There is no salt added to this.
• Let stand two days.
• STEP THREE: Drain and place back in crock.
• Bring the pickle solution with the alum to a boil and simmer two minutes pour over.
• Stand overnight.
• STEP FOUR: Drain and place back in crock. Make Sweet Pickle brine, bring to a boil and pour over. For three days drain this syrup into a large pot and bring to a boil. Pour back over the cucumber slices. The third day once again bring the syrup to a boil. Put pickles into sterilized jars, pour hot brine over and seal.
• I often replace some of the cucumber pieces with cauliflower chunks, making for a mixed sweet pickle.
• Makes about eight 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.