Loose Ends - Sweet Pickles

A while back I posted the beginning of a recipe for Icicle Pickles.  Time got away from me like a water wiggler and next thing I knew it was mid-October.

I offer my humble apologies... and the rest of the icicle (sweet) pickle recipe.

After the pickles have fermented for one week, you're going to have another 5 days of work to do.  Plan out the schedule so that you end on a day when you'll have time to can.

These steps seem daunting but in all honesty, they take just a few minutes on any given day.  Hang in there!

Start with stage 1  (Recipe from "Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving")

Stage 2
Drain the cukes and discard the brine.  Rinse your crock.  Rinse cukes in cold running water and drain thoroughly.  Return to the rinsed crock.  Cover cukes with boiling water, put a cover on the crock, and let stand in a cool place for 24 hours.

Stage 3
1. Drain cukes and discard liquid.  Rinse crock.  Return cukes to crock.
2. Tie 4.5 tsp picking spice in a square of cheese cloth or tea ball.
3. In a large, stainless saucepan, combine 5c sugar and 5c white vinegar.  Bring to a boil, then pour over cukes.
4. Cover and let stand in a cool place for 24 hours.

Stage 4
Drain cukes, reserving liquid and spice bag.  Rinse crock.  Return cukes to the crock.  Boil liquid and spices bag then pour over cukes.  Cover and store 24 hours.

Stage 5
Repeat Stage 4 for 3 more days.

Stage 6
1. Prepare canning supplies.
2. Discard spice bag.  Drain cukes, reserving liquid.  Bring liquid to a boil in a large pot.
3. Pack cukes into hot jars within generous 1/2" headspace (I use rubber gloves to to this).  Ladle hot liquid into jars. leaving 1/2" headspace.  Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if necessary.  Wipe rim, center lid on jar, finger-tighten ring.
4. Process for 10 minutes.

I always jot down notes in the margins of my canning recipes.  For these pickles I wrote:
"Made 2008.  Complicated but very good!"
"2010.  Let ferment [longer than a week] because I forgot.  Still good!"

Another thing to consider for this recipe.  I started it in a pot that was too small.  Then moved to a cast-iron pot that rusted around the rim.  I finally finished it in a stainless steel stock pot.  Save yourself the work and pick a single pot to pickle in.