Quick sweet pickles

Yield: 1 Recipe

Ingredients:

8 lb Pickling cucumbers -- (3- to 4-inch)
1/3 c Canning or pickling salt
4 1/2 c Sugar
3 1/2 c Vinegar (5 percent)
2 ts Celery seed
1 tb Whole allspice
2 tb Mustard seed
1 c Pickling lime (optional)*

Instructions:

*(for use in variation below for making firmer pickles) May be canned as either strips or slices. Yield: About 7 to 9 pints Procedure: Wash cucumbers. Cut 1/16-inch off blossom end and discard but leave 1/4 inch of stem attached. Slice or cut in strips if desired. Place in bowl and sprinkle with 1/3 cup salt. Cover with 2 inches of crushed or cubed ice. Refrigerate 3 to 4 hours. Add more ice as needed. Drain well. Combine sugar vinegar celery seed allspice and mustard seed in 6-quart kettle. Heat to boiling. Hot pack--Add cucumbers and heat slowly until vinegar solution returns to boil. Stir occasionally to make sure mixture heats evenly. Fill sterile jars leaving 1/2-inch headspace. For more information see "Jars and Lids". Raw pack--Fill jars leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Add hot pickling syrup leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process according to the recommendations in Table 1 or use the low-temperature pasteurization treatment. For more information see "Low-Temperature Pasteurization Treatment". Variation for firmer pickles: Wash cucumbers. Cut 1/16-inch off blossom end and discard but leave 1/4-inch of stem attached. Slice or strip cucumbers. Mix 1 cup pickling lime and 1/2 cup salt to 1 gallon water in a 2- to 3-gallon crock or enamel-ware container. Caution: Avoid inhaling lime dust while mixing the lime-water solution. Soak cucumber slices or strips in lime water solution for 12 to 24 hours stirring occasionally. Remove from lime solution and rinse and resoak 1 hour in fresh cold water. Repeat the rinsing and resoaking two more times. Handle carefully because slices or strips will be brittle. Drain well. Storage: After processing and cooling jars should be stored 4 to 5 weeks to develop ideal flavor. Variation: Add 2 slices of raw whole onion to each jar before filling with cucumbers. Table 1. Recommended process time for Quick Sweet Pickles in a boiling-water canner. Style of Pack: Hot. Jar Size: Pints or Quarts. Process Time at Altitudes of 0 - 1 000 ft: 5 min. 1 001 - 6 000 ft: 10 min. Above 6 000 ft: 15 min. Style of Pack: Raw. Jar Size: Pints. Process Time at Altitudes of 0 - 1 000 ft: 10 min. 1 001 - 6 000 ft: 15 min. Above 6 000 ft: 20 min. Style of Pack: Raw. Jar Size: Quarts. Process Time at Altitudes of 0 ~ 1 000 ft: 15 min. 1 001 - 6 000 ft: 20 min. Above 6 000 ft: 25 min. ======================================================= === * USDA Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539 (rev. 1994) * Meal-Master format courtesy of Karen Mintzias