[fanfan]

Thanks.

Do you pre-salt the cucumbers?

[sockmonkey]

The cukes are sliced thin, and then the cukes, and any other vegetables you’re slicing with them...onions, or pepper go into ice water with 1/2 cup pickling salt..for a gallon of cucumbers, it’s half cup salt to 1 quart of crushed ice..and minimal water.. bury the veggies in the ice..keep it cool for five hours, then drain it well,..

Does that make sense?
You do not add any salt to your pickling liquid, aka, vinegar, sugar, turmeric, celery seed, cloves, mustard seed, and the grape leaf just goes in the bottom of the jar ...

[sockmonkey]

Also, I am sure someone will come on here to say you will die if you do it this way..

I pack the hot jars, with the cold pickles..I have some mustard seeds, grape leaf, grape, whatever you want in the bottom of the jar..

The pickling spices that were in the just below boiling for 20 minutes liquid, I strain out or put in a little cheesecloth packet before I cook it.. that is easy to remove...then it’s cold cukes into jars, hot pickling liquid, (oh, I do sterilize the jars first..) I am fanatical about that..

Then, it’s lids on jars, Screw rings on jars, tip upside down, put back right side up, and wait for the pops that tell you they’ve sealed.
for the gallon of sliced cukes, the hot pickling liquid is 5 cups vinegar, 5 cups sugar...should make about 8 pints of pickles