These sound so much easier than actually canning pickles, I might try out the recipe when I'm able to get the ingredients. I've seen recipes for refrigerator pickles, but I think you still have to go through some of the same procedures as for regular canning, so this seems simpler. http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/freezer-cucumber-pickles?trkid=ZFB715
Here is a recipe for spicy/hot pickles that a friend of mine shared with me. I tried making it once , but only used plain cucumbers and they turned out soft; so I think it does need to be made with the regular dill pickles like she mentioned. RECIPE : I would like to share a recipe with all of you that like Quick, Easy and Yummy. I have a recipe for Hot Sweet Pickles that is so simple, and only takes One Day to be ready to eat. Go buy a jar of the Cheapest Dill Pickles you can find. Dump the pickles into a colander, rinse them off, then cut into chunks~ put them back into the pickle jar along with 3 cloves of garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, depending on how hot you want them. Take a piece of gauze and put in two Tablespoons of Pickling spice, tie it with a plastic tie, or rubber band. Set it on top of the pickle chunks. In a sauce pan put 1 Cup of Brown Cider Vinegar, and 1 3/4 Cup white sugar, stir and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Pour the hot brine over the bag of pickling spice. Put the lid back on, and make sure you have it on straight, and tight turn it over onto a dish towel on the counter. Leave it set overnight, till the next day about the same time. Then open the jar, remove the bag of pickling spice, put the lid back on and refrigerate. It will be ready to eat before you chill them, but to me they taste better chilled. My family is always asking me to make these so I do. They are great if you are going to a pot luck picnic and don't know what to bring. You don't have to worry about them spoiling if they are left out in the heat.
This thread reminds me of the days when my mother used to pickle cucumbers. That's when we go to Baguio City - a cool place where strawberry and almost all kinds of imported vegetable grows. In that trip, we would buy a lot of vegetables like cauliflower and small cucumbers that we mix in salads and the leftover are made into pickles. From what I remember, the concoction is a mix of vinegar, garlic, pepper corn, sugar - that may not be the complete ingredients. She would boil the concoction and when cooled, she will toss in the small cucumbers which were washed and cleaned beforehand.
Mmm, I used to eat such cucumbers during my childhood, thanks for sharing this recipe and bringing my memories back.
@Yvonne Smith I guess that's because the pickles were already processed/pickled, so were crisp? Did you use pickling cucumbers? I never see them at the stores here, although I would see them back home. I might have to go to a different store, such as Randall's, which is more expensive, and tends to have more of a variety, rather than just the basics.