This recipe for old-fashioned pickles was given to me by community herbalist Krista Rahm who shares it with her Whole Living students. The recipe combines pickling lime and vinegar to make extra crispy pickles and was given to Krista by a 90-year old woman who made these pickles every year for many decades.
I always end up with more cucumbers than I can use or give away. This recipe is a great way to make delicious, crisp, homemade pickles. It was a bit of work, but after three days, I enjoyed the best pickles I ever made.
Here is a basic summary of the process, with detailed instructions following.
On day one you will combine very cold water with pickling lime
On the second day you will rinse the cucumbers and mix your sugar, vinegar, hot water, pickling spice
On the third day you will heat your spiced cucumbers and can them in a hot water bath. Read below for ingredients and detailed instructions for each day.
DAY ONE
Approximately 7 pounds sliced cucumbers
1 cup of pickling lime
1 gallon very cold water
Combine the pickling lime and water and mix well. Add the cucumbers. Place in an enamel pan or fermenting crock. Let stand for 24 hours.
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DAY TWO
4.5 pounds of sugar
7 cups of vinegar
3 cups of HOT water
pickling spice
2 Tablespoons salt
Rinse your cucumbers VERY well to remove the lime. Keep rinsing until the water runs clear. Combine the sugar, vinegar, hot water, pickling spice, and salt.
Add your rinsed cucumbers.
Let sit for another 24 hours.
DAY THREE
Heat the cucumbers/vinegar mix on low-medium heat for 20 minutes. While the cucumbers and spices are heating (oh the aroma!), sterilize your jars and lids and have them hot and ready to go.
Using clean technique, fill the hot jars with the hot cucumber mix and process the pickles in a hot water bath for 20 minutes. If for some reason, some of the lids do not seal, keep those jars in the refrigerator and use within a week.
Do you have a favorite pickle recipe?
How do manage all those summer cucumbers?
~ Michelle
I have never heard of pickling lime, can you tell me what it is and where I can buy this?
Pickling lime is calcium hydroxide and is used to keep the pickles crisp. You can find it woth the pickling supplies at Walmart, Target, and on Amazon.
Do you have to use pickling lime?
Does pickling lime do a better job of keeping them crisp then using grape leaves / bay leaves in the ferment? I guess if I don’t want to alter the flavor of my pickles in any way it would be better to use the lime – but I am curious how they compare in terms of crispness on either end. Thank you!
That’s a very good question and something to experiment with in future batches.
How much pickling spice ?
Usually 1 – 2 teaspoons (for approximately 7 pounds of cucumbers)
IS THIS DILL OR SWEET PICKLES
You can season them however you want. I used an organic blend of spices.
They are definitely closer to bread and butter or sweet than they are a dill or sour pickle!
but the amount of sugar you are saying to use do they come out as sweet pickles
Sweet, but not that sweet.
what kind of vinager apple cider or white ?
You can use either apple cider or white vinegar, but for this recipe I prefer the white vinegar.
Why do you have to hot water bath the pickles for so long ? most i ever do is five minuets, just curious. also what kinda cider apple or white? and how much pickling spice…also why so much sugar just curious is all.
This recipe was shared with me from my herbal teacher and friend Krista Rahhm, who received from a woman who had been making this recipe for decades and received the recipe from her mother, grandmother….
Last question i promise. Sorry to bother you so much…… Ok so my pickles felt crisp on day one and two and even three….that is until i put them on the boil. ONce boiled they felt a little soft. is this normal? Will they firm back up after canned ??
No bother! They do soften after the rinsing and when you start adding heat. But when I make these, they still turn out more crisp than any of the other pickles I have made (using other recipes/methods). I hope they turn out the way you want them! Let me know either way.
Thank you so much. This is my favorite way to make pickles. Lost this in moving. So glad to find it.
How many quarts of pickles does this recipe make?
3-5 depending on the size of the pickles. I used slicing cucumbers, which were quite large, versus the smaller pickling cucumbers.
My MIL used to make these, and I loved them. I made them for the first time last year, using your recipe.
A friend asked me for the recipe. She’s asking how many it will make? I’ve forgotten. Can you please tell me?
Thank you!
3-5 Quarts depending on the size of the pickles. I used slicing cucumbers, which were quite large, versus the smaller pickling cucumbers.
Do you boil yout water for day 2??
I heated the water enough to make dissolving the sugar easier, but I did not boil.
Hi, I was wondering do you need to refrigerate day 2 process after all is put together? Or can it be left out like the day 1 brining process?
I would definitely refrigerate after all is done.
I have made these pickles for sixty years. My family loves them.
But, I do not add water to the sugar and vinegar to cook them. And I add a couple of cinnamon sticks!
Sounds lovely!
I helped a friend make dill pickles one year using thee grape leaf. They were very good and yes, they were crispy.
In your recipe, (can not wait to make these and) I can not find the amount of pickling spice needed in this recipe. Is this a guest-a-mate or did I just miss seeing it on your sheet (under the 3 cups of hot Water)?
what is clean technique?
“Clean technique” refers to keeping the lids and jars as clean as possible during the process of filling the jars – this is to avoid adding possibly harmful contaminants.