You can serve this in place of the much more expensive lobster tail because it is a beautiful and affordable dish.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 5 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 day 11 hrs |
| Total Time: | 1 day 11 hrs 25 mins |
| Servings: | 100 |
| Yield: | 5 1/2 quarts |
Ingredients
- 2 gallons water
- 2 cups pickling lime (calcium hydroxide)
- 7 pounds cucumbers, cut into chunks
- 6 cups cold vinegar
- 8 cups white sugar
- 2 teaspoons pickling spice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- ½ teaspoon whole cloves
- 1 drop food coloring, or as desired
Instructions
- Mix 2 gallons water and pickling lime together in a large bowl; add cucumbers and soak, stirring often, for 24 hours. Drain and thoroughly rinse cucumbers under cold water.
- Fill a large bowl with ice water and soak cucumbers for 3 hours; drain.
- Pour cold vinegar into a large pot. Mix sugar, pickling spice, salt, celery seed, cloves, and food coloring into vinegar until dissolved. Add cucumbers; let sit, 8 hours to overnight.
- Bring cucumber mixture to a boil; remove pot from heat.
- Sterilize the jars and lids in boiling water for at least 5 minutes. Pack cucumber mixture into hot, sterilized jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the top. Run a clean knife or thin spatula around the insides of the jars after they have been filled to remove any air bubbles. Wipe the rims of the jars with a moist paper towel to remove any food residue. Top with lids and screw on rings.
- Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with water. Bring to a boil and lower jars into the boiling water using a holder. Leave a 2-inch space between the jars. Pour in more boiling water if necessary to bring the water level to at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars. Bring the water to a rolling boil, cover the pot, and process for 15 minutes.
- Remove the jars from the stockpot and place onto a cloth-covered or wood surface, several inches apart, until cool. Press the top of each lid with a finger, ensuring that the seal is tight (lid does not move up or down at all). Store in a cool, dark area.
- Pickling lime is also known as slaked lime.
- Make vinegar mixture recipe 1 1/2 times so you will have plenty.
Reviews
The taste and texture of this recipe is very good ! I will have to be careful eating them however, they are full of sugar. I’d say its more of a syrup they are in than a brine. That is the reason for 4 stars: the sugar content. Read the recipe clear through to get an idea of how long these take in various soaking times; a total of 1 1/2 days. I ran out of time and the 1st soak was 2 1/2 days B4 I could get back to it, but they turned out anyway. I used regular sized pickling cucumbers as well as over sized. I peeled and scooped out the seeds on the oversized ones. I weighed my seeded/chopped cukes to equal 7 lbs. It was about a gallon and a half of chopped pieces. I may add onions the next time I make these. I made 1 1/2 the syrup recipe as suggested and I barely had enough for 16 pts, only about 1/2c left. DEFINITELY make more syrup for these than what the recipe calls for or you will run out.
I’ve made these a few times and I love them! When I first heard about lime pickles I thought they were made with actual lime juice. So even though I know better now I still added a bit of lime juice to the vinegar mixture. It’s really yummy that way!
Delicious!
I made a half recipe of this. It took 3 large cucumbers, peeled and seeded. This recipe is the same as my grandparents used to make. A great, crisp pickle. It’s sweet and you can taste the cloves, so don’t overdo the amount of cloves.
These pickles are east to make. I followed the recipe fairly close except for the waiting time. I would be doing something else and forget about the pickle. Everyone that has tried them said that they were very good. This recipe is close to the “Mrs. Wages lime pickle” recipe.