These perfectly prepared pickles are wonderful with fish or on hamburgers and sandwiches.
We’ve always had pickles in our house—if they were not homemade, they were store bought. My taste buds prefer sweet over dill, so sweet is just my preference. This pickle recipe has worked for me for many years. This also became my husband’s (Poppy's) favorite pickle, and together, we tried to never run out.
Poppy would not eat fish without his pickle, and he loved catfish, so we could not run out of these pickles. We also enjoyed this sweet crisp pickle with burgers or anything from the grill.
Poppy's perfectly prepared pickles
Preserved in Purified Pump Water
Ingredients
7 pounds pickling cucumbers
3 cups lime
2 gallons water
5 pounds sugar
3 quarts vinegar
1 (2 ounce) box pickling spice
1/8 teaspoon Alum
Preparation
Wash and slice cucumbers. Mix 3 cups lime to 2 gallons of water and pour over cucumbers. Soak for 24 hours.
Rinse with clear water. Soak for 6 hours (or overnight) in clear water. Drain and set aside.
Combine 5 pounds of sugar, 3 quarts of vinegar and pickling spice together in a large pot. Bring to boil and pour over cucumbers. Soak for 12 hours or overnight.
Bring cucumbers and vinegar mixture to boil and cook rapidly for 30 minutes.
Pack in hot jars, place 1/8 teaspoon of Alum in each jar, screw lids on snugly but not tight and invert to seal or process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Hint: 7 pounds of pickling cucumbers will produce approximately 7 quarts of pickles. I packed my pickles in pint size jars and processed them in the water bath; I have 14 jars of sweet, crispy pickles.
thanks to: http://www.gulfcoastnewstoday.com/people/features/article_1033f6fa-09e6-11e3-81f4-001a4bcf887a.html