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Title: Quick Sweet Pickles
Categories: Pickle Canning
Yield: 1 Recipe
| 8 | lb | Pickling cucumbers - (3- to 4-inch) |
| 1/3 | c | Canning or pickling salt |
| 4 1/2 | c | Sugar |
| 3 1/2 | c | Vinegar (5 percent) |
| 2 | ts | Celery seed |
| 1 | tb | Whole allspice |
| 2 | tb | Mustard seed |
| 1 | c | Pickling lime (optional)* |
*(for use in variation below for making firmer pickles)
May be canned as either strips or slices.
Yield: About 7 to 9 pints
Procedure: Wash cucumbers. Cut 1/16-inch off blossom end and discard, but leave 1/4 inch of stem attached. Slice or cut in strips, if desired. Place in bowl and sprinkle with 1/3 cup salt. Cover with 2 inches of crushed or cubed ice. Refrigerate 3 to 4 hours. Add more ice as needed. Drain well.
Combine sugar, vinegar, celery seed, allspice, and mustard seed in 6-quart kettle. Heat to boiling.
Hot pack--Add cucumbers and heat slowly until vinegar solution returns to boil. Stir occasionally to make sure mixture heats evenly. Fill sterile jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. For more information see "Jars and Lids".
Raw pack--Fill jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Add hot pickling syrup, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process according to the recommendations in Table 1 or use the low-temperature pasteurization treatment. For more information see "Low-Temperature Pasteurization Treatment".
Variation for firmer pickles: Wash cucumbers. Cut 1/16-inch off blossom end and discard, but leave 1/4-inch of stem attached. Slice or strip cucumbers. Mix 1 cup pickling lime and 1/2 cup salt to 1 gallon water in a 2- to 3-gallon crock or enamel-ware container. Caution: Avoid inhaling lime dust while mixing the lime-water solution. Soak cucumber slices or strips in lime water solution for 12 to 24 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove from lime solution and rinse and resoak 1 hour in fresh cold water. Repeat the rinsing and resoaking two more times. Handle carefully because slices or strips will be brittle. Drain well.
Storage: After processing and cooling, jars should be stored 4 to 5 weeks to develop ideal flavor.
Variation: Add 2 slices of raw whole onion to each jar before filling with cucumbers.
Table 1. Recommended process time for Quick Sweet Pickles in a boiling-water canner.
Style of Pack: Hot. Jar Size: Pints or Quarts. Process Time at Altitudes of 0 - 1,000 ft: 5 min. 1,001 - 6,000 ft: 10 min. Above 6,000 ft: 15 min.
Style of Pack: Raw. Jar Size: Pints. Process Time at Altitudes of 0 - 1,000 ft: 10 min. 1,001 - 6,000 ft: 15 min. Above 6,000 ft: 20 min.
Style of Pack: Raw. Jar Size: Quarts. Process Time at Altitudes of 0 - 1,000 ft: 15 min. 1,001 - 6,000 ft: 20 min. Above 6,000 ft: 25 min.
======================================================= === * USDA Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539 (rev. 1994) * Meal-Master format courtesy of Karen Mintzias
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