This is my grandma Belle’s recipe for sweet pickles. It’s a labor of love as it is a 13-day recipe, but it isn’t hard to do. Most of your time will be spent waiting, and what you do each day doesn’t take very long. I have a 2-gallon crock that I use for this recipe, and when it’s full of cucumbers, that amount will last me roughly 2 years. I use these pickles in potato salad, tuna and chicken salad, and in homemade tartar sauce, plus they are terrific straight out of the jar. The number of pints you get will obviously depend on the size of the cucumbers you have, put I usually get about 11-14 pints per 2-gallon crock of cucumbers. The syrup amount listed will fill that many pints – if you tightly pack your jars with the pickle chunks. Otherwise, it’s a good idea to make a little extra syrup just in case so there is enough to cover the pickles in each jar.

If you don’t have 2 weeks to devote to making pickles, you can speed up this recipe. Once you get to Day 9 where you first prepare the syrup, you can heat up the syrup twice in one day to cut down your time. I’ve done this many times, and the pickles don’t taste any different than if you did it each day. The point is to get the syrup hot, pour over the cucumbers, and then let it cool completely before you heat them up again.

Crystal Pickles

Pickling cucumbers, washed (leave whole with stems on)

Water

Canning salt

Alum or Pickle Crisp

9 cups sugar

2-1/2 cups white vinegar

Box of cinnamon sticks

1 tablespoon whole cloves

Cheesecloth

Wash pickles with stems on. Place in a stone crock, and soak with a mixture of 1 cups of canning salt per 1 gallon of water. Use enough to cover cucumbers completely. Weight down cucumbers so they are beneath the water mixture, and cover crock with a towel to prevent anything from getting in the crock.

Let cucumbers set for 1 week, but check daily to make sure none of the cucumbers are above the water level. Spoon off any scum, if any, from top of the water.

On Day 7, drain and wash the cucumbers. They will be lighter in color. Rinse out the crock.

Place the cucumbers back in the crock. Cover them with boiling water. Again weight down the cucumbers, cover crock with a towel, and let them set 24 hours.

On Day 8, drain cucumbers, and cut into 1-inch chunks.

Place chunks back in the crock, and cover cucumber chunks with boiling water that has 1 tablespoon of either alum or Pickle Crisp per gallon of water. Weight down cucumber chunks; cover crock with a towel, and let set 24 hours.

On Day 9, drain cucumber chunks. In a large stockpot, make a syrup of the white vinegar and sugar. Heat over low to medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Use the cheesecloth to make a spice bag, and add the cinnamon sticks and whole cloves to the spice bag. Add spice bag to the syrup mixture, and heat through. Remove spice bag and reserve. Pour hot syrup over cucumber chunks in crock. Weight down cucumbers so everything is beneath the syrup. Cover with a towel, and let set 24 hours.

On Day 10, drain the cucumber chunks over a large stockpot, reserving the syrup. Place cucumber chunks back in the crock. Add spice bag to the syrup, and heat until hot. Remove spice bag and reserve. Pour hot syrup over cucumber chunks in crock. Weight down, again making sure chunks are below the syrup. Cover with a towel, and let set 24 hours.

Days 11 and 12: Repeat same process from Day 10.

On Day 13, again drain syrup from the crock into a large stockpot. Add spice bag, and heat until hot. Tightly pack cucumber chunks into prepared pint jars. Add hot syrup to each jar, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe rims, and add lids and rings, adjusting until just finger tight. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes (not a rolling boil – that will shrivel the pickles – just barely boiling). After 10 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid. Let stand 5 minutes before removing jars to a towel on the counter. Let jars sit for 12 hours before testing for seal. Remove rings, wipe down jars, and store in a cool dark place.

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