Pickled Cucumber Recipe

When I was in the states, I noticed how everyone seemed to love pickles. I found a lot of them to be too sour for my taste but then I was given this recipe of how to make your own using Dill Pickles, which are just small cucumbers. I have tried this and it is just so much better than the bottled sweet gherkins that we get in the supermarket. Trying to find the best sized cucumbers to make it was a bit of a challenge so I just use normal small cucumbers.

INGREDIENTS:

10 medium cucumbers
8 cups sugar
5 teaspoons salt
4 cups spiced vinegar (or pickling vinegar)

METHOD:

Cover whole cucumbers with boiling water and allow to stand overnight.
Drain off water and repeat again until the 5th day.
On the 5th day, drain the water off and slice cucumbers into 1/2 inch or 1.3 cm pieces.
Combine sugar, salt and vinegar in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Pour over cucumbers and let stand for 2 days.
On the 3rd day, bring to the boil and seal in hot sterilised jars.

To sterilise jars, place in large pot and cover with hot water. Bring to the boil and let stand in the boiling water for about 5 minutes. Remove and dry thoroughly and pour the pickles into the hot jars and seal.