My family gets together at camp or outdoors at home and makes a batch of these refrigerator pickles. They are really easy to make. There’s no canning involved! After all the ingredients are put in the jars, they go in the refrigerator!
The pickles stay fresh in the refrigerator for at least 1 month. If you are buying a quantity of cucumbers from a local farmer, choose pickling cucumbers that are the length of your jars, if possible. If you’re growing your own cucumbers, well then you are pretty much going to have to use what you grow. In any case, we never had any problems with the length of the pickling cucumbers we bought at the farm stand.
We used the lids that came with the canning jars the first year, but then found the plastic lids and we much prefer the plastic.
We have been very fortunate to always find fresh dill when we are gathering our ingredients. We did have a difficult time finding good pickling cucumbers one year because the growing season hadn’t been optimal for cucumbers that year. I remember buying the last of the pickling cucumbers at a farm stand that year.
You can make pickle rounds or spears. For either shape, cut the ends off the cucumbers first. The rounds should be cut 1/4 inch thick. For spears, cut each cucumber in quarters and then cut each quarter in half so that you are getting 8 spears per cucumber. Each jar should hold 2 cucumbers cut into spears (16 spears) or into rounds. Since you’re not going to do a canning bath, you can make these pickles as you need them!
A day at camp spent making pickles is a GREAT day!
Refrigerator Pickles
Ingredients per pint jar
2 pickling cucumbers
1/2 Cup purified water
1/2 Cup organic distilled white vinegar
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
3 sprigs fresh dill (or 1 Tbsp dried dill)
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 tsp. whole peppercorns
1 wide-mouth pint mason jar
Instructions
Cut the cucumbers into the shape you wish: rounds or spears.
In the pint mason jar, combine water, vinegar, salt, dill, garlic and peppercorns.
Add the prepared cucumbers to the jars, cover, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
Will keep in the refrigerator for at least one month.
Note: It is best to discard the brine after the pickles have been eaten. Make fresh brine for each jar of pickles you make. We do use larger jars at times.
We have a lot of fun making these pickles as a family project. It’s an easy project when we make them on the picnic tables outdoors where we can wash all the surfaces off with the garden hose when we are done. Each of us has our own preferred shape and flavorings. Some of us like to spice it up with red pepper flakes!
Walmart always has a great supply of canning jars and they also sell the colorful plastic lids. Since you’re not doing the canning bath, you can use the plastic lids which are so much easier to open and no worries about rust.
There are many sizes and colors of the plastic canning jar lids. Select the ones you need. You can order and have them delivered to the store or to your home.
16 Pack Colored Plastic Mason Jar Lids -8 Wide Mouth & 8 Regular Mouth Ball Mason Lids. This picture just represents the different size lids in the 16-pack. $9.67 online today. Walmart Storefront Creator link: https://walmrt.us/3JDPT09
On sale today $15.44 (instead of $18.99) Ball, Glass Mason Jars with Lids & Bands, Wide Mouth, Clear, 16 oz, 12 Count Walmart Storefront Creator link: https://walmrt.us/3UAvIqi
You know what’s coming up? A challenge to organize, declutter, and clean your refrigerator and freezer! Read about how the challenge worked for me: https://livingwithdana.com/2019/01/response-to-week-4-challenge-refrigerator-freezer/
Thank you for reading my blog! Have a great day!
