14 Day Unsealed Pickles

⏱ 20160 mins 🍽 1 Gallon 🏷 Weeknight

This traditional pickle recipe requires a 14-day process to achieve its distinctive flavour and texture. It involves a sequence of brining steps with salt, alum, and a spiced vinegar solution over several days. The final stage layers the prepared cucumbers with sugar to create a natural syrup before preserving. The method yields a full gallon of crisp, sweet pickles.

14 Day Unsealed Pickles

Ingredients

  • 2 gallons cucumbers
  • 3 cups canning salt
  • 1 gallon vinegar
  • 1 lb alum
  • 1 lb pickling spices
  • 7 lbs sugar

Method

  1. On the first day, dissolve the canning salt in 1 gallon of boiling water.
  2. Pour this salt water over the cucumbers and leave them to stand overnight.
  3. On the second day, pour the salt water away from the cucumbers.
  4. Combine alum with 1 gallon of boiling water and pour this mixture over the cucumbers.
  5. Allow the cucumbers to stand in the alum water overnight.
  6. On the third day, pour off the alum water.
  7. Cover the cucumbers with 1 gallon of fresh boiling water.
  8. Let the cucumbers stand in this clear water for 24 hours.
  9. On the fourth day, boil 1 gallon of vinegar with the pickling spices, which should be tied in a cloth bag.
  10. After boiling the spiced vinegar for 15 minutes, pour it over the drained cucumbers.
  11. Let the cucumbers stand for 9 days, moving the spice bag around each day.
  12. On the thirteenth day, slice the pickles and layer them in a container with the sugar, using all the sugar.
  13. Leave the layered pickles and sugar to stand overnight.
  14. On the fourteenth day, can the pickles.
  15. The sugar will draw juice from the cucumbers to form a syrup. While the recipe is for unsealed pickles, you can heat the syrup and pickle slices before packing them into hot jars.
  16. Store the finished jars in the refrigerator.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sodium339661000 mg

Recipe details

CategoryWeeknight
AuthorTarynne