14 Day Sweet Pickles

Learn how to make pickles right at home with this easy pickle recipe. In two short weeks, have your own pickles that taste way better than any store-bought variety.

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

1. Wash cucumbers carefully. Cut 1/16" off blossom end and place in stone crock.
    
2. 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.
    
3. 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.
    
4. 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.)
    
5. On the 10th day, drain, pour 2 quarts fresh boiling water over cucumbers. Let stand 24 hours. The next day, drain.
    
6. 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.
    
7. For the next three days, drain, retaining liquid. Reheat this liquid each day adding 1/2 cup sugar each time.
    
8. After the last heating on the 14th day, pack pickles into hot, sterilized jars. Pour boiling hot liquid over pickles and seal at once.
    
9. Process in boiling water bath (212 degrees F.) 5 minutes. Makes 5 pints.
    
10. These pickles will be a dark, slightly bluish green, and are quite transparent.