14 Day Sweet Pickles

Can be canned whole, in strips, or in slices.

• 4 lbs of 2 to 5 inch pickling cucumbers (if packed whole, use cucumbers of uniform size)
• 3/4 cup canning or pickling salt
• (Separated - 1/4 cup of each of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th days)
• 2 tsp celery seed
• 2 Tbsp mixed pickling spices
• 5-1/2 cups sugar
• 4 cups vinegar (5%)
• Yield: About 5 to 9 pints

Procedure:

Wash cucumbers. Cut 1/16-inch slice off blossom end and discard, but leave 1/4-inch of stem attached. Place whole cucumbers in suitable 1 gallon container. Add 1/4 cup canning or pickling salt to 2 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Pour over cucumbers. Add suitable cover and weight. Place clean towel over container and keep the temperature at about 70° F. On the third and fifth days, drain salt water and discard. Rinse cucumbers and rescald cover and weight. Return cucumbers to container. Add 1/4 cup salt to 2 quarts fresh water and boil. Pour over cucumbers. Replace cover and weight, and re-cover with clean towel. On the seventh day, drain salt water and discard. Rinse cucumbers and rescald containers, cover, and weight. Slice or strip cucumbers if desired, and return to container. Place celery seed and pickling spices in small cheesecloth bag. Combine 2 cups sugar and 4 cups vinegar in a saucepan. Add spice bag, bring to a boil and pour pickling solution over cucumbers. Add cover and weight, and re-cover with clean towel. On each of the next six days, drain syrup and spice bag and save. Add 1/2 cup sugar each day and bring to a boil in a saucepan. Remove cucumbers and rinse. Scald container, cover, and weight daily. Return cucumbers to container, add boiled syrup, cover, weight, and re-cover with towel. On the 14th day, drain syrup into saucepan. Fill hot sterile pint jars or clean hot quart jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Add 1/2 cup sugar to syrup and bring to boil. Remove spice bag. Pour hot syrup over cucumbers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel. Adjust lids and process as below:

Packing Method	Jar Size	Process Time in Minutes at Altitudes of
		0-1,000 ft	1,001-6,000 ft	Above 6,000 ft
Raw	Pints	5	10	15
	Quarts	10	15	20