Just a little ole working gal, who loves food

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Super Easy Refrigerator Pickles!

Instead of planting cucumbers I planted pickle cucumbers in my garden this year. I have always wanted to make my own pickles and figured this year was the year to experiment! So I planted my garlic, dill and cucumbers and waited. A couple weeks ago I harvested my first pickle. It was perfect!
But it was only 1 Pickle...and the rest were all teeny tiny...so I waited about 3 more days and voila...at least a dozen of these suckers!!! I picked them all and got ready to make my first batch!

In a small pot I added 1 1/2 Cups of Pickling Vinegar, 1 Tbsp of Kosher Salt, 1 Tbsp White Sugar, 1 Tsp Coriander Seeds, 1 Tsp Fennel Seeds. I turned the heat on low and allowed the salt and sugar to dissolve slowly. Once all dissolved I removed this from the heat and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile wash your fresh picked cucumbers. Do NOT use regular cucumbers...they will just turn to mush. This time of year is perfect for purchasing bushels of pickle cucumbers from your local farmers market!

Slice the tops and bottoms off the cucumbers and slice into spears. Trying to keep the spears similar in size. Submerge these in ice water until ready to use.

Wash and sanitize your mason jars the night before (I just used the sterilize function on my dishwasher). Fill the bottom of your jars with fresh dill flowers, sliced garlic and a pinch of Red pepper flakes.

Now pack in the cucumbers!

All Ready!!

Now back to the prepared Vinegar solution. Add 1 1/2 cups of cold filtered water to the vinegar and stir. Basically you are adding the same amount of water as vinegar. Pour the Watered down Vinegar solution into the prepared mason jars making sure to fully cover the cucumbers.

Now seal the jars and place in the fridge. The most crispy, crunchy cucumbers will be ready to eat in about 24 hours. 48 hours are best!! They last about 3 weeks in the fridge...but mine lasted about 3 days!!! Next year I might be brave enough to try canning these babies!! But in the mean time...every week i have enough ripe cucumbers to make about 3 more jars!

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