On Sat, 27 Apr 2019 07:27:32 -0400, songbird >
wrote:

> then i make the brine and bring it to a boil but
> i don't cook the cucumbers at all, just dump the
> brine in the jars, wipe the rim and put a lid on
> and then process as quick as possible to get them
> sealed. the lids are warmed up in some hot water
> first.

I never "process" a pickle. Processing is cooking.

I pour boiling syrup over the vegetables in the jar and seal at once.
Since we make very few pickles and have lots of refrigerator space, I
store them chilled, but Mom kept hers in the cellar and never had any
spoil.

I've never attempted a fermented pickle. That was the kind Mom made
most; I once heard her complain to another mother that she couldn't
fob off store-bought pickles on her children. I think she gave it up
in the late forties, though.

The recipe for fermented pickles wasn't in the hand-written book she
left us; I think that that was just something everybody knew. All I
remember of the procedure was that it called for big stone crocks and
brine strong enough to float an egg. Since we had our own hens, that
would have been a new-laid egg. And she put a grape leaf in to make
them crisp.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/