14 Day Sweet Pickles
Making pickles at home is easy, and they taste delicious!
If you're looking for a super easy pickle recipe to make right at home, this is the recipe for you. In two short weeks, you can have your own pickles that taste way better than any store-bought variety. Use freshly picked cucumbers for the best results and cut them in whatever shape you like your pickles. This recipe won't keep you busy for two weeks, though. Many of the days are just allowing the pickles to soak in the brine. You can make this tried and true pickle recipe easily and they will last for years stored in a dark, cool area.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds pickling cucumbers, 3 to 4
- 1 cup coarse pickling salt
- 2 quarts boiling water
- 1/2 teaspoon powdered alum
- 5 cups cider vinegar
- 5 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon celery seeds
- 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon oil of cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon oil of cloves
Instructions
- Wash cucumbers carefully. Cut 1/16" off blossom end and place in stone crock.
- Prepare brine by dissolving salt in boiling water, pour over cucumber. Weight down with a plate almost as large as the crock and lay a weight on plate to keep cucumbers under the brine. Let stand 1 week.
- On the 8th day, drain, slice cucumbers in 1/2" chunks and return to crock, pour 2 quarts fresh boiling water over cucumbers. Let stand 24 hours.
- On the 9th day, drain, pour 2 quarts fresh boiling water mixed with alum over cucumbers. Let stand 24 hours. (Handle the cucumbers carefully after soaking in alum water as they become quite brittle.)
- On the 10th day, drain, pour 2 quarts fresh boiling water over cucumbers. Let stand 24 hours. The next day, drain.
- Combine vinegar, 3-1/2 cups sugar, celery seeds, mustard seeds, oil of cinnamon, oil of cloves, heat to boiling and pour over cucumbers. Let stand 24 hours.
- For the next three days, drain, retaining liquid. Reheat this liquid each day adding 1/2 cup sugar each time.
- After the last heating on the 14th day, pack pickles into hot, sterilized jars. Pour boiling hot liquid over pickles and seal at once.
- Process in boiling water bath (212 degrees F.) 5 minutes. Makes 5 pints.
- These pickles will be a dark, slightly bluish green, and are quite transparent.
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trishclark529
Feb 07, 2018
I made these this past summer, and wow they are awesome. They are completely different from store bought sweet pickles. And they were so easy! As long as you remember to do the daily thing, these pretty much make themselves. I made 12 pints of pickles, and am now down to 4. The kids loved opening these and eating them straight from the jar. They were also wonderful in potato salad, deviled eggs, and chicken salad. I am already planning to make these again this year.
rpayton03 8076009
Oct 23, 2012
My family has made these pickles all my life and I have been making them for 20 years. I just finished a batch and I have to say I don't know what I did wrong. The juice in my pickles is not juice but is the consistency of syrup! Yuck! The only change I made was I ditched the heavy crock for a food grade plastic bucket. Does anyone have any ideas about what happened? Help! We are completely out of pickles!
CreativityGoddess
Aug 15, 2011
Hi Member 4649477 -- Food-grade plastic and glass containers are excellent substitutes for stone crocks. Other one- to three-gallon, non-food-grade plastic containers may be used if lined inside with a clean food-grade plastic bag. The recipe makes 5 pints; the number of jars this would fill depends on how big your jars are. Hope this helps! -The editors of RecipeLion
Member 4649477
Aug 15, 2011
How many jars does this recipe make? Also, I don't have a stone crock, unless a crockpot would be big enough. Is there anything I could use as a substitution?
JessiCAN
May 23, 2011
@lbifarms 2510539: We're glad you found the recipe you were looking for. Let us know how it turns out! -- Editors of RecipeLion
lbifarms 2510539
May 20, 2011
Thank you so much. I have been looking for this recipe. I am so happy to find it. Love your web site. Thanks again. Beckey
Julie5391
Jun 14, 2010
Hello Mona Lisa. I do understand what you saying, but this is just ALL TOGETHER A DIFFERENT TASTE! iF YOU HAVE TIME - JUST TRY - AND SEE? All the best
Mona Lisa
Jun 07, 2010
This sounds great, but I'm all about fast and easy, so I will just purchase my sweet pickles at the grocery store :)
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