In the last two weeks, I’ve made dozens of pickles. My favorite sweet pickles were first on the list, and if you have been reading along, or had a quick lunch over here in MrsW’s kitchen, you know I serve these all year long. This is a pickle that’s worth the (very minimal) work. They are sweet and briny with a sharp vinegar bite. Without a doubt, the best part is the crispness. They are the perfect deviled egg, egg salad, tuna salad or chicken salad pickle. They pair with rich salty charcuterie in a wonderful way. And they are perfect for that refrigerator contemplation… the “what’s for dinner” stare … that requires something lifted aimlessly from jar to mouth while thinking.
Slicing the cucumbers is the only real work, made easy with the mandoline.
There’s no real recipe, only a technique. And for the last twenty years, I’ve been acting as if this recipe is my very own secret. The recipe was on a card in the metal file box my grandmother used for her recipes, titled Luvey’s Seven Day Pickles. In the time I’ve been blogging, so much has been made of originality and recipe attribution. So, calling these pickles Luvey’s seemed the correct attribution for what I was sure was original and unique.
Until I walked through Union Square Greenmarket last month, wandering aimlessly, glancing at table after table of lovely foods. There was a farmer with a table filled with jars. One jar said Seven Day Pickles. I picked it up, turned it this way and that, and knew, just knew, that any claim of originality was going to be pushed aside.
As soon as the boiling water goes in, the color begins to change.
What incredible arrogance to think that this was a secret recipe! I’m really quite embarrassed. As if the Greenmarket experience wasn’t enough to make me rethink, Emily Nunn came to visit (she’s making her Comfort Food Tour, but you’ll have to ask her about that.) Emily and I met virtually through Food52, and I just knew I would love her. Her recipe for Lemon Blueberry Pancakes is amazing (secret ingredient!) and the Matilda, Maple, & Garlic Pork Shoulder with Crispy Skin – the title alone makes my mouth water. She arrived for a visit a bit remorseful, saying she had intended to bring some of her Aunt’s special sweet pickles. My ears perked up with that mention. Somehow I knew, I just knew. Yes, Aunt Mariah makes the same seven day pickle.
After one day, there’s a lot of bubbling and foaming.
Emily claims Mariah’s have more clove, but I surmise that is just a matter of pickling spice, and now that I’ve seen the recipe, my suspicions have been confirmed. There are a couple of slight adjustments to the technique, but really, it’s just about the same darn pickle.
So, they’re not original…but they are amazing. Like no other pickle. And in these dog days of summer, when the heat is hovering at 100°F every single day, here’s a preserving recipe that has very little cooking involved.
Day Two. Not very interesting.
It’s simple, and the ingredients are few, but there is one you may not know. Alum is what makes this pickle crisp. It’s a mineral – an old time mineral used to maintain crispness. It’s not creepy. It’s not a first cousin to high fructose corn syrup or neighbor to those multisyllabic scary ingredients. It’s found in some grocery spice aisles. I’ve done some research and encourage you to do more if you want. It’s not a bad thing, alum. It’s natural and serves a mineral, simple purpose adding snap to these pickles.
Alum.
There is no processing and these jars are shelf stable. Really. If you process these pickles, you will cook them and they won’t be the same. I’ve kept them on my shelf for a year (they never last any longer than that, and having enough for a year is always a challenge.) The high concentration of both sugar and vinegar certainly adds to the stability. Still, I make one recipe, 12 pints, intending to consume them or give them away within one year.
Get your sugar on.
Make these with the firmest cucumbers you can find. I know you will say ten pounds? Geez, that’s a lot of pickles. Go ahead, halve the recipe if you must, but I’ll bet you will regret not having more pickles once you’ve tasted one of these seven day wonders.
Luvey’s Seven Day Pickles
Makes 12 pints
10# cucumbers
1/4 c salt
3 T Alum
1 gallon apple cider vinegar
1/4 c pickling spice
4 c sugar
Day One:
Soak the cucumbers in ice cold water for 30 minutes.
Drain. Trim off the ends of the cucumbers, then slice (a mandoline is best) into 1/4″ slices. (Note: Aunt Mariah cuts hers into chunks. I like this idea.)
Pack the slices into a huge jar or food safe container. Cover with boiling water.
Cover the container and let it sit overnight.
Day Two:
Drain. Add the salt to one gallon of boiling water.
Pour the boiling water over the cucumber slices.
Cover and let it sit overnight.
Day Three:
Drain. Add the alum to one gallon of boiling water.
Pour the water/alum mixture over the cucumber slices.
Cover and let it sit overnight.
Day Four:
Drain. Bring cider vinegar to a boil
Put the pickling spice into a cheesecloth bundle (or a tea ball!) and add to the cider vinegar.
Pour the vinegar mixture over the cucumber slices.
Cover and let it sit for three days.
Day Seven:
Drain, reserving 2 cups of the vinegar.
Dispose of the pickling spices.
Put the pickles into a giant bowl. Pour the sugar over the pickles, stir well and allow the mixture to sit for about an hour.
Pack the pickles into sterilized jars – pints or quarts, whatever size you want. I say, depending on how many you think you will eat in one sitting. I’m good for a pint. (Not that you can’t keep these in the refrigerator or on the shelf for months.)
The sugar will draw the liquid out of the pickles and make a syrup, some of which is now on the bottom of the bowl. Scrape/pour the syrup over the pickles, dividing evenly between all the jars.
Make up any shortfall of liquid by adding back the vinegar, just until the pickles are covered.
Cap the jars. Turn them over and over a few times in the next three or four days to disperse and dissolve any sugar that gathers on the bottom.
Chill the pickles well before serving.
PS Those clever farmers at the Greenmarket had a Seven Day Pickle with Jalapeno. I think the rounds of chile would be amazing, so will definitely try that next year. Sweet, acidic and spicy? Be still my heart.
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Will get added to pickle collection , thanks
Oh yes. Adding these babies to the list of things to try in the next few weeks!
I make Candy Sweet Pickles from an old recipe of my mother’s. The crunch comes from soaking the sliced cucumbers in lime. (Very similar to lime pickles except the recipe calls for green food coloring – don’t know why, but when they aren’t bright green, they don’t taste the same!)
Ahh secrect recipes. Brings to mind Kung Foo panda… the secret to the recipe? The secret to the recipe is there is no secret! I encourage people to SHARE their recipes, tell your story, Honor the source of the recipe, tell their story.
On another note, instead of slicing into a bowl I use a rectangular plastic storage container that is just wide enough for my mandolin. Then Im not trying to fling a bowl around my kitchen.
I have a recipe that is very similar but they’re called Vera’s Seven Day Pickles. A “canning” friend told me that grape leaves may be used instead of alum; indeed, I invited her over to pick as many grape leaves as she wanted. Since that day long ago, I’ve always put them in with my dill and sweet pickles and it works. I also read that removing the blossom end of the cucumber removes the enzymes that cause pickles to soften. Because I have an abundance of grape leaves, they do the trick for me.
It’s probably difficult to imagine, but on July 4th we finally had a temperature of 70F, something we haven’t had since last summer. It will be a while before I have any pickling cucumbers!
I believe the crunch enzyme comes from alum or lime or grape leaves and some say oak leaves, so I’m sure all of them work. And Linda, do you think Vera and Luvey knew eachother? That makes me smile!!
Always cut the blossom end off your cucumbers before pickling. If you don’t you’ll get mushy pickles for sure, and I blame the blossom ends for the great pickle explosion of 2005. But that’s another story. If you don’t know which is blossom and which end isn’t, just cut them both off and stop fretting!
It is the tannin in the grape leaves so oak should work as well. I’ve used grape, planted them so I had the leaves, but not oak.
I have never made pickles but will be trying these! One question; am I correct in assuming there is no need to place under refrigeration up to where you say to chill before serving?
Love your site! You have encouraged me to try many new things, thank you.
That’s right – no refrigeration necessary!
Super, thanks. I made your raspberry violette jam but used St. Germain. So yummy!
I assume is ok to use a metal bowl for the sugar step. It appears there is no need for this question because of the pictures, but just wanted to make sure.
Honestly? I don’t have a bowl big enough, so that’s what I use. I wish it was glass or ceramic.
Cathy: thank you so much for posting this! I can’t wait to try these as I am fairly addicted to all things pickled. I can’t see alum without thinking of those old Warner Brothers cartoons in which Wyle E. Coyote’s head shrinks after eating it.
Sounds wonderful!! BUT no refrig OR processing, seriously?? I have been so indoctrinated about pickle safety that this makes me a bit… um, uncomfortable, but I should shut up and try it. I think I simply MUST. When my cukes are ready for this, that is (Puget Sound – they are 6″ shoots right now!)
I know. It seems crazy, but I’ve been eating these for over half a century (good golly!!) and I’m still here.
I miss having canning stock and maybe I don’t have to. Not having to process is perfect! Do you have a recipe for kosher pickles that aren’t processed? I used to make them but never liked them as much as the Clausen ones that are in the deli case that are so crisp.
At last, the pickle recipe I have been searching for…I’m all over this one, Cathy.
Love the idea and it is almost cucumber season here. Never made anything but dill. Mom used to make so many kinds: bread and butter, mustard, mixed pickles, you name it. This sounds like a lot of fun and too good to not try.
Valerie
I can’t wait to finish painting my kitchen and go get some cucumbers to make these. I LOVE pickles! And love making them even more. Thanks!
Is there a particular type of cucumber you recommend for this recipe -pickling cuke, Persian or slicing? Thanks, Cathy, I’m really looking forward to trying these!
I usually choose pickling or kirby cucumbers, but I’ve made it with all sorts.
Could not resist! Day 1 done. This is by far the most laid back recipe ever. Love it. Cannot wait to taste the results. First time using alum. Wondering if I could add some garlic cloves, or is that not a good idea due to lack of processing?
Yay! So glad! Regarding the garlic, I think you’ll see, once you taste this pickle, that garlic isn’t part of the flavor profile. Additionally, garlic is one of those “chance of botulism” additions to any canned item. While there is probably enough vinegar to make it safe, I would be afraid since there’s no processing involved.
That’s what I was kind of thinking. I’ll save the garlic for the refrigerator garlic dills. I am so looking forward to Day 8!
My husband and I just devoured the first jar last night. Perfect compliment to the spicy Coppa. Really wishing I opted for the full 10#. Thank you so much! This is def. going into my regular pickle rotation. May even need to make another batch next weekend, as friends are asking for jars!
If I have only 2 lbs of pickles, is every step the same as far as the amounts, except for the sugar step at the end?
Thanks. Can’t wait to taste these.
Hi, my guess is you will need only about a quart of liquid to cover two pounds of slices – so cut the salt, alum and pickling spice back to 25% of the recipe measure shown.
The jar you are intially fermenting these in, is it sealed, just covered or does it not matter?
Hi Eric, The jar has a rubber gasket that seals it, but I’ve also made these in a giant flower vase (no kidding) with plastic wrap and a giant rubber band on the top.
vase fermeted pickles… what a lovely Bouquet!
Hi Cathy, I have been reading your blog for years, and I have been making these pickles since you posted about them the first time back in 2010. These pickles are absolutely fabulous! I hope you don’t mind, but I posted about them on my blog so that I would have my own record of them. Of course, I linked back several times to your wonderful posts and encouraged people to check them out for themselves. Thank you for posting about these several years ago and now!
Welcome to the pickle club! I’m delighted you made them and posted about them. Clearly, it’s a recipe that needs to be passed around, right?
My Mother always made pickles but her recipe was from heart and altho I always helped her I was given certain tasks so I never got to know the whole recipe. When I first got married and had kids, we would go to the market and buy the small pickles and I would make them. Half-Sours were the only way we ate them and whole is how we pickled them.
I have a cute PICKLE Halloween story…in Montreal Mrs. Whyte’s Pickles are the most popular Jewish pickle. When my kids were young everyone in the neighborhood knew the owner of Mrs Whyte’s Pickles because every year he gave each kid a pickle in a baggie as a snack…:))
I’m on Day 4, today. I used alum for dill pickles last year and found that it made them taste, well, sort of store bought. I’m trusting that the bold spices in this recipe will fix that. (I’m using the pickling spice blend formula you posted last year, or whenever it was.) Can’t wait to see how these turn out! Thanks for posting this. ;o)
So thrilled to try these! Two questions: my family prefers their pickles in spear form. Will that work? I’m guessing it would as you mentioned chunks, but still new enough to be unsure if altering the slice shape changes the chemistry or volume in some way.
Also, I only have five pounds of cukes. Should I halve everything in the recipe, or use the recipe as stated understanding there will be leftover liquid?
Thank you for such a wonderful site!
I’ve never made these as spears, so will be curious to hear how it works. Halve everything for half the weight of cucumbers. It will work out fine, but you’ll be wishing you made 10 pounds. !!! Ha!
I want to make these pickles this week but wonder if it is ok to use aluminum pans as I do not have anything else large enough for 10 pounds of cukes. Will this cause a reaction with the cider vinegar?
Again…..LOVE LOVE YOUR RECIPES!!!
Aluminum will react with the vinegar. You’re best using glass or ceramic. I’ve found huge glass containers at Marshalls and World Market and lots of secondhand shops and garage sales. You can seal it with plastic wrap, but getting a container with a lid is better.
What about enamel pans???
Enamel is non-reactive, so that would be okay!
Can’t wait to make these (finally) this week.
Cathy, have you ever waited longer than three days between day 4 and day 7′s activities? I just finished day one, and realized I will be out of town on Day 7, meaning it will be Day 9 before I finished and bottle these pickles. Any idea if it’s ok to let them sit longer in the vinegar?
I can’t imagine it would matter, Molly. The last step just finishes the flavor, not the pickling part. I think they could sit in the pickle brine for awhile.
Wow! Talk about a speedy reply! Thanks Cathy! Looking forward to seeing how these turn out. I’m making your giardiniera too right now, which is amazing!
Just trying these today and realized that the only non-reactive container large enough to put all these pickles is my water bath canner! Obviously the lid isn’t going to form a tight seal. Is that important?
Thanks for all the great recipes!
a tight seal isn’t urgent… enjoy the pickles!
So glad to have found you! What a treasure trove of classic and delicious!
As an aside, alum also should be an ingredient in your medicine cabinet – make a paste with water and it takes the sting and swelling out of bug bites and stings , and works wonders for canker sores….
I started making the pickles yesterday! Can’t wait!
That’s great info re: alum. I’ve used a similar paste from baking soda and water for bee stings, but didn’t know alum would do the same thing. Enjoy your pickles!
If you were going to add jalapeno would you just pierce it and add it whole like the lacto fermented pickles? And at which stage would you add it?
I’m making my shopping list as I read the recipe..what fun! Do you think this would work with zucchini and yellow sqash? I won the battle against the squash beetle for once this year and have a bit of a glut! Thanks for all you share.
Mary Lee, I have no idea, but would love to know how they turn out! Please come back and tell us.
As far as a squash pickle recipe, it’s alot easier to keep squash and zucchini crisp than a cucumber. I have a great, simple recipe for squash pickles that takes just a couple of hours and turns out great. Cucumber pickles are worth the extra time, though.
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