Since I have been harvesting so many cucumbers, I decided I needed to start processing them other than eating them raw in salads. My cucumbers are perfectly straight so great for making pickles! Trellising your cucumbers allows your fruit to hang down letting gravity help you grow straight cucumbers. Plus cucumbers are great climbers and trellising prevents the fruit from rotting on the ground. I used Food in Jar’s Refrigerator Dill Pickles but added and subtracted to fit my tastes. I wanted to make a small batch and I didn’t feel like canning on a day when our projected high is going to be 100°. Plus a girl can only eat so many pickles!
First I washed and then cut off the ends of the cucumbers. I cut each cucumber into 8 wedges. One cucumber was a little too long so I had to trim off the ends a bit to have it fit into my 16 oz. canning jars. I wish I had used my wide mouth jars so I could have fit the cucumbers in a little better. I added two cloves of garlic to each jar and a 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper as well.
I measured 3/4 cups of apple cider vinegar, 3/4 cups of filtered water and 2 teaspoons of pickling salt which I brought to a boil on the stove. When the brine came to a boil, I transferred it to a measuring cup and poured it into the jars leaving about a 1/4 inch gap on top. I popped the lids on and let them cool on the counter before putting them in the fridge.
I can’t wait to eat these in a day or two! I have a whole month to eat them before they go bad but I have a feeling they wont last that long! I foresee many batches of these pickles during the summer months. The whole process, including clean up, took me about 15 minutes so this is a super easy recipe to do. If I end up having a glut of cucumbers and more time on my hands I am going to try canning them too!