Expert Sweet Pickles are no easy task. It takes planning and dedication to pull these off. Since my grandma can’t make it around to everybody’s house to teach you how to make these, I will walk you through this step by step.

Click here to watch a video of how I make the sweet pickles.

First and most importantly, is the planting of the right kind of cucumbers. You can buy pickling cucumbers from my local fruit stands in the summer but it is so expensive!!! If you can grow your own garden, I highly recommend buying a little package of seeds and growing your own cucumbers.

My grandma would always plant Marketmore 76 Cucumbers and that is what I like to plant also. If you don’t have Marketmore 76 cucumbers, you want small pickling cucumbers. Not large slicing cucumbers. I have tried this recipe with other cucumbers but do prefer the Marketmore 76 for taste, texture, and crunch.

I like to plant a few hills of cucumbers. The more the merrier. You will want to pick the cucumbers when they are little about 3-4 inches long. Sometimes I have larger cucumbers that have been hidden “sneaky cucumbers”, I cut them in half and use them but not large fat cucumbers. Those are best to be sliced and eaten fresh on a salad or fed to the bunnies.

I pick the cucumbers in my garden every 3 to 4 days. Sometimes I don’t have enough cucumbers to make a batch of pickles. I’ll put the cucumbers in bag in the fridge to keep them fresh until I can pick more cucumbers and have a larger batch. It’s best to have 50-75 cucumbers in a batch of pickles.

Day 1: After you have picked enough cucumbers, wash them and place them in a pickling crock or a bucket. I use a 3 gallon stone crock that is made for preserving foods. However, these can be a little pricy so when I have two batches going at once, I use a 2 gallon bucket for whichever batch is smaller.

Next, I make a batch of salt water (salt brine). I typically use Morton Canning and Pickling Salt. Whatever you use, make sure it’s Canning and Pickling Salt because it is designed to make a salt brine with salt crystals that are flavorful and intended for pickling. Morton, Ball, and Mrs. Wages are all good canning and pickling brands.

To make the salt brine, combine 2 cups of pickling salt with 1 gallon of water in a large pot. Stir and heat to a boiling. Then pour over the cucumbers.

Now you will want to use weights or plates to weigh the pickles down so they don’t float. You can purchase weights that are intended specifically for weighing down pickles while in the brine, or you can use a few heavy plates that fit inside the crock or bucket. Honestly, I use a couple heavy plates, just like my grandma used to.

Now set it in a corner and forget it. Day 1 is done, easy right?

Day 2 – 7: Remove the weights or plates and stir the pickles with a long wooden spoon. Replace the weights and plates carefully trying to get all of the cucumbers submerged in the brine. Repeat this once a day. So EASY!

Stirring the pickles once a day discourages a film to form. You may not notice anything the first few days, but towards day 5 and 6 you will notice that the brine is a little cloudy and the pickles are starting to change color. This is normal.

Day 8: Pour the cucumbers into a large strainer in the sink. Rinse cucumbers and wash out the container. Next you are going to cut the cucumbers into bite size pieces about 1/2″ thick. Put the cucumbers back into the container.

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Make a batch of alum water by combining 1 Tablespoon of alum with 1 gallon of hot water. Bring to a boil and make sure the alum is dissolved. Pour into the container over the pickles. Weigh down with a clean plate.

Alum is what makes the pickles nice and crispy. This recipe calls for alum. I have also used Mrs. Wages Xtra Crunch in my dill pickle recipes. I plan on trying a batch of sweet pickles next summer with Mrs. Wages Xtra Crunch instead of Alum.

Day 9 & 10: Each day, strain the pickles into a large strainer; pouring the alum water down the drain. Return the cucumbers to the container. Make a fresh batch of alum water each day with 1 gallon of water and 1 Tablespoon of alum. Bring to a boil and pour over the cucumbers. Weigh down with a plate.

Day 11: Drain the cucumbers and wash the container. Let cucumbers drain in the sink while you make the syrup.

To make the syrup, combine 10 Cups of Sugar, 5 Cups of White Vinegar, 18 drops of cinnamon oil, 18 drops of clove oil, and 2 Tablespoons of celery seeds. You can also add a few drops of green food coloring if you want to make the pickles a darker green, this is optional. One time my mom made a batch blue for fun.

Return the pickles to the cleaned container. Then bring syrup to a boil and pour over the pickles. Weigh down with a clean plate.

Day 12 & 13: Using the plate to keep the pickles in the container, pour the syrup into a large pan. Don’t drain the syrup down the sink! Reheat the syrup to a boil and pour back over the pickles. Make sure the pickles are weighed down and not floating. Repeat this process each day.

Day 14: Last day! You made it! Time to put the pickles in the jars.

First make sure you have clean jars. Pint jars or half pint jars work great. I have used quart jars before when I have run out of pint jars.

Just like you did on days 12 and 13, pour the syrup into a large pan. Pack the pickles into the jars. I use a canning funnel to help get the pickles in. ONLY pack the pickles to just under the neck of the bottle. You will fill the syrup up to the neck of the bottle and don’t want the pickles to be too high and not covered in syrup. You can find one in a canning kit like this from Amazon.

Once all the jars are packed, heat the syrup on the stove to a boil. Pour the syrup into the bottles just up to the neck. You need to cover the pickles and leave a headspace in the jar.

Heat water in a large sauce pan on the stove. Heat the lids in the water for just a little while. Using a paper towel dipped in the hot water, clean the tops of the jars off making sure everything is clean with no syrup or celery seeds that could cause the jars not to seal.

Once the jars are clean, put the lids on the jars and screw on a ring to the jar. Tighten the lids until just tight, don’t over tighten the rings. I use a magnetic lid tool to get the rings out of the hot water.

When the water in the large sauce pan has come to a boil, you are ready to seal your lids. You are going to flip each jar over and put them top side down into the boiling water. You want the water to come up about an inch or two on the jars. Not all the way to the top. Move quickly and get as many jars in to the pan as you can.

Set a timer for 5 minutes. Let the jars stay in the boiling water.

After 5 minutes in the water, you are going to want to use two hot pads to get the jars out of the boiling water. Quickly flip each jar over and place on a towel on the countertop.

Repeat this process until all the jars have been in the boiling water for 5 minutes.

Now let them sit on the countertop for one day. Do Not Touch the Tops! You don’t want to force a seal of the lids. You will know they are sealing when you hear a POP!

Check each lid the next day to see if they sealed. If they didn’t seal, take the lid off, clean the top, and repeat the sealing steps. Some problems may be chips in your jar tops or stuff on the inside of the lids. Try again.

Enjoy with Crackers, Cheese, and Meat. I love to eat them with Roast Beef and on Roast Beef Sandwiches. I also love them diced up into small pieces in egg salad and a little of the syrup in deviled eggs. They are great with veggie trays and as a snack for parties. How else do you like to eat them?

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