Refrigerator Pickles
My refrigerator overfloweth with cucumbers. We are terrible about eating salads consistently, and there is always, always, ALWAYS one in my weekly produce basket. They were really piling up, and I had no idea what the heck I was going to do with them.
Duh, make pickles!
For someone that enjoys the kitchen and its adventures as much as I, there is something that I find so intimidating about canning. It feels as though it requires a lot of special equipment and/or time. If thats not true, please by all means, let me know.
But as it stands right now, I remain afraid of canning. I adore pickles though, so I learned how to make refrigerator pickles a couple of years ago from Mrs. Wages website. Don’t get me wrong, they take up some fridge space, and they don’t last indefinitely- in fact, we opened a jar that had been in the garage fridge a little too long when we moved- WHOA. But they are delicious, and you can pretty much put in whatever you’d like. Also, I encourage the use of apple cider vinegar over white vinegar. I think it’s milder.
Refrigerator Pickles
Ingredients
- 4 cups white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 4 cups water
- 3 1/2 T salt
- 3 T sugar
- 4 tsp mustard seeds
- 4 T dried minced onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 5-6 cucumbers sliced lengthwise into spears (or into discs)
Instructions
- Divide cucumbers amongst 4 wide mouth 1 qt mason jars. Add 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 T dried onion and one minced or pressed garlic clove to each jar.
- Add water, vinegar, salt and sugar to a large saucepan on the stove; bring to a boil. Stir occasionally until salt and sugar are dissolved. Pour brine into jars. Cap tightly and leave out on the counter top for 2 days.
- On day 2, flip the jars upside down.
- Transfer to fridge on day 3.
Note: I also usually add a bunch of dill to each jar… guess what I didn’t have when I started these?!
Leave a Reply