Pickled cucumber or cucumber pickle? Either way, this recipe for canning Sweet Pickled Cucumber Slices makes the tastiest & crispy pickles!

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Vlasic Whole Pickles, Kosher Dill, 32 Ounce	$3.33	Check Prices
Van Holten's - Pickle-In-A-Pouch Jumbo Dill Pickles - 12 Pack	from $18.36	Check Prices
Wickles Pickles, Original, 16 oz (Pack - 3)	from $18.60	Check Prices

There is a small child sitting on my lap.

She smells like a cucumber pickle.

Let’s talk about why that is, shall we?

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Well. I’m sure you know why that is. I mean it’s pretty obvious. She’s had her whole fist in the pickle jar all the live long day.

She is one of my many children who have been walking around the past few days since I made my first batch of sweet pickled cucumber slices this season and telling me just how much they LOVE my pickles.

(In fact, they love them so much the older children learned how to can their own pickles!)

So it’s either make my children unhappy and stop making the pickles or put up with the pickle stink. I love my kids and they’ve smelled worse before. So we’ll go with happy pickle munchin’ munchkins.

Honestly, I can’t blame them. I’ve never been big on pickles myself, but these are mighty fine if I do say so myself.

I want to feel guilty deep down inside about these not being the super healthy fermented, even lacto-fermented pickles that make for superhuman guts & immune systems, really I do. But what good would it do if I did?

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No one would eat them unless a threat or a promise were involved. Food should bring pleasure, not punishment or bribery. And since these pickles lack the sodium benzoate, yellow 5, and polysorbate 80 of name brand pickles, I’ll be content with that, reminding myself just why we don’t stick to only one food fad.

But what about the crunch you ask. Are they crunchy?

Are they ever! Even after nearly a year, they retain their crunch. Beyond that, I can not attest to. For no matter how many I’ve made, they’ve never lasted that long.

I do have a few tricks up my sleeve that make them crunchy. First is removing the blossom end of the cucumber and discarding it. They have an anti-crunchy enzyme in them that makes the pickle break down into an undesirable state of crunchlessness.

Next is thicker slices. Obviously, if your slices are too thin, then your pickles will mush up more quickly.

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The third trick is the salting and the icing. That draws out some of the liquid.

I’ve heard about tossing a grape leaf in your pickles too. Now that we have a grapevine, I tried that in a few jars, but doubt it will make a difference since I used the other tricks.

Recommended Canning Tools & Resources

: Food in Jars

: Preserving by the Pint

: Mason Jars

: Water Bath Canner

: Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

: Preserving with Pomona’s Pectin

: All American Pressure Canner

: At Home Canning for Beginners and Beyond

: Food Strainer & Sauce Maker

: Canning Tools Set

Sweet Pickled Cucumber Slices Recipe