14-DAY SWEET PICKLES

Michigan State University Extension
Preserving Food Safely - 01600867
10/13/97

14-DAY SWEET PICKLES


CAN BE CANNED WHOLE, IN STRIPS, OR IN SLICES                

4 lb. of 2- to 5-inch pickling cucumbers                    
   (If packed whole, use cucumbers of uniform size)         
3/4 cup canning or pickling salt (separated - 1/4 cup  each 
   on the 1st, 3rd and 5th days)                            
2 tbsp. mixed pickling spices                               
2 tsps. celery seed                                         
5-l/2 cups sugar                                            
4 cups vinegar (5% acidity)                                 

     YIELD:  About 5 to 9 pints                             

     PROCEDURE:   Wash cucumbers.  Cut l/l6-inch  slice  off
blossom  end  and  discard,  but  leave  l/4-inch  of   stem
attached.   Place  whole  cucumbers  in  suitable   1-gallon
container.   Add  l/4  cup salt to  2 quarts water and bring
to  a  boil.  Pour  over cucumbers.  Add suitable  cover and
weight.  Place  clean  towel  over  container  and keep  the
temperature  at  about 70 degrees Fahrenheit.  On  the third
and   fifth  days,  drain  salt  water  and  discard.  Rinse
cucumbers and  rescald cover  and  weight.  Return cucumbers
to container.  Add  l/4 cup salt to 2 quarts fresh water and
boil.  Pour over cucumbers.   Replace  cover and weight, and
re-cover with clean towel.  On  the seventh day, drain  salt
water  and discard.  Rinse cucumbers and rescald containers,
cover  and  weight.  Slice or  strip  cucumbers, if desired,
and return to container.   Place  celery  seed  and pickling
spices in  small cheesecloth bag.  Combine 2 cups  sugar and
4 cups vinegar in a  saucepan.   Add  spice bag, bring to  a
boil  and  pour pickling solution over cucumbers.  Add cover
and  weight  and re-cover  with clean towel.  On each of the
next  six days, drain syrup  and  spice bag and save liquid.
Add  l/2 cup  sugar  to  the liquid  each day and bring to a
boil in  a saucepan.  Remove  cucumbers  and  rinse.   Scald
container,  cover and  weight  daily.   Return cucumbers  to
container, add  boiled  syrup, cover,  weight, and  re-cover
with  towel.  On  the  fourteenth   day,  drain  syrup  into
saucepan.  Fill hot sterile pint jars  (see directions below
for sterilizing jars) or clean quart  jars, leaving l/2-inch
headspace.  Add l/2 cup sugar to syrup  and  bring to  boil.
Remove spice  bag.  Pour  hot syrup over cucumbers,  leaving
l/2-inch  headspace.  Adjust  lids   and  process  as  below
or   use  low-temperature   pasteurization   treatment  (see
directions below).                                          

Sterilization of Empty Jars                                 

     To sterilize empty jars, place them  right side  up  on
the rack in a  boiling-water  canner.  Fill  the  canner and
jars with  hot  (not boiling) water to 1 inch above the tops
of the jars.  Boil  10  minutes  at  altitudes  of less than
1,000 feet.  At higher elevations, boil 1 additional  minute
for each additional 1,000 feet elevation.  Remove and  drain
hot sterilized jars one at a time as filled.                

          RECOMMENDED PROCESS TIMES FOR 14-DAY SWEET        
              PICKLES IN A BOILING-WATER CANNER             

                     Process Times at Altitudes of          

Style                                                       
of       Jar      0-               1001-            6001-   
Pack     Size     1000 ft.         6000 ft.         8000 ft.

Raw      Pints    5 min.           10 min.          15 min. 
Raw      Quarts   10               15               20      

Low-Temperature Pasteurization Treatment For Processing     

CAUTION:  USE ONLY WHEN RECIPE INDICATES.                   

     The following treatment  results in  a  better  product
texture but  must  be carefully managed  to  avoid  possible
spoilage.  Place jars in a canner filled half way with  warm
(120 degrees to 140 degrees  Fahrenheit)  water.  Then,  add
hot water to a level 1  inch  above  jars.  Heat  the  water
enough to maintain 180 degrees  to  185  degrees  Fahrenheit
water  temperature  for  30  minutes.  Check with a candy or
jelly thermometer  to be  certain that the water temperature
is  at  least  180  degrees  Fahrenheit during the entire 30
minutes.  Temperatures higher  than  185  degrees Fahrenheit
may cause unnecessary softening of pickles.                 


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