Yield: 7 pints
Ingredients:
- 6 lbs. pickling cucumbers
- 2 large onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- ½ cup canning or pickling salt
- 4 cups white vinegar
- 4 cups sugar
- 2 Tbsp. mustard seed
- 1 ½ Tbsp. celery seed
- 1 Tbsp. pickling spice
- 1 tsp. turmeric
- 7 pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands
Directions:
- Sanitize jars, lids and bands by washing in hot soapy water and then rinsing and placing in a pot of barely simmering water until ready to fill.
- Place cucumbers in sink with cold water. Scrub each cucumber by hand. Rinse all of the cucumbers and drain. Slice a quarter inch off each end of each cucumber and discard. Slice the cucumbers into ¼-inch-thick slices. Thinly slice onions and garlic.
- Place the cucumbers, onions, garlic and pepper in a large pot and stir gently by hand to mix. Sprinkle salt over mixture. Cover the mixture with about 2 inches of crushed or cubed ice. Refrigerate the mixture overnight, adding more ice as needed during this time.
- Drain cucumber mixture and rinse well to remove salt.
- In a separate large pot, add vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, celery seed pickling spice and turmeric. Stir well. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and boil for 10 minutes.
- Add cucumber and onions to the pot, bring back to low boil and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and ladle into hot jars, leaving ½ inch of head space in each jar. Remove any air bubbles by inserting a wooden skewer along inside edge of the jar. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply the band until it is fingertip tight.
- Process jars in a boiling water bath canner 10 minutes. Remove jars and cool for 12 hours. Check lids for seal — lids should not flex up and down when center is pressed.
- Label and store jars for up to a year. Refrigerate any unsealed jars and use first.
