- 1). Put a large bowl of water into the freezer for about half hour. Meanwhile, wash the vegetables you are going to use to make your refrigerator pickles. Small cucumbers make great pickles.
- 2). Get the bowl of chilled water from the freezer. Add a few cubes of ice to make it even colder.
- 3). Put the vegetables into the bowl of cold water and put it in the fridge for about 2 hours. You need to really chill the vegetables.
- 4). Choose jars that have tightly fitting lids and are not too large as this ensures your refrigerator pickles stay crispy. The jars need to be airtight and smaller jars mean less air gets inside once you open them. You can use jars you have at home that had things like jam or peanut butter in them, but make sure they are made of glass.
- 5). Put the glass jars and the lids into a pan of boiling water for about 10 minutes. This ensures they are sterilized. Jars that are not sterilized will form bacteria which not only affects the pickle's crispiness, but can also make you ill.
- 6). Pour enough white vinegar into a nonstick pan. You can use a regular pan, but the vinegar can react with the metal. You need enough vinegar to fill the number of jars you are using. Use another jar the same size to measure out the amount you need.
- 7). Bring the vinegar to a boil, empty the spice mix into the pan, turn the heat down to a simmer and leave for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- 8). Drain the water from the pan that your jars are in carefully. Empty out any water in the jars and lids and let the water evaporate. Don't use a cloth to dry them as it will introduce bacteria again. Let the jars cool to room temperature.
- 9). Slice the vegetables quite thickly, or cut them into chunks using a knife, if you prefer. Put the vegetables into the jars as tightly as possible and up to the top of the jars.
- 10
Turn off the heat and empty the vinegar into the jars. Fill the jars completely to the top. Discard any remaining vinegar. - 11
Put the lids onto the jars and tighten using your hand. Let the vinegar cool. As it does so, any air inside the jar contracts and the lid gets sealed even tighter. - 12
Place the jars into the refrigerator when cool. Leave for 1 week or more if you can wait. Every time you open a jar of pickles, even one you have opened before, the pickles will be very crispy. You can keep pickles crispy once the jar is open for several weeks. Unopened jars can keep for a year or more. The longer you leave them, the stronger the pickles get.
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