I'm glad you reposted this. I meant to ask before when I saw it:

Would they get slimy or soft if you BWB'd them?

Do they have enough vinegar to safely not BWB 'em?

This sounds rather like the 'Crystal Chunk' pickles Mom made when I was a
kid, a hunnert years ago. We cut them in chunks instead of just slitting
and BWB'd ours. 'Course Ma was cautious, we even pasteurized milk from our
own cows.

Deb
--
In Oregon, the pacific northWET.



> Do you absolutely promise to write it down? Okay, here goes...
>
> Dr. Wirtz Pickles
>
> 2 gallons small pickles (split to within about 1/2 inch of the end,
> for a 3-inch pickle)
> 1 gallon hot water
> 1 pint of pickling salt
>
> 1. Clean the cucumbers thoroughly, nipping off the stem end and slitting
> them. Mix the salt and water, pour over the pickles and let this stand
> for 1 week. (I use a crock and just keep the pickles from floating with
> an upside-down dinner plate that fits inside the crock.)
>
> 2. After one week, drain the brine, pour fresh boiling water over them,
> and let them stand another 24 hours.
>
> 3. Drain the brine and pour over them 1 gallon of hot water in which 1
> tsp. alum has been dissolved. Let stand another 24 hours.
>
> 4. Drain the brine and make a syrup of:
> 4 quarts of sugar (16 cups)
> 2 1/2 quarts of vinegar (10 cups)
> 1 small pack of cinnamon sticks (use your own judgment here - I plan on
> one stick per half-pint jar)
>
> 5. Heat this brine to boiling and pour over the pickles. Let stand
> 24 hours.
>
> 6. Drain the brine, heat to boiling and pour over the pickles. Let stand
> 24 hours.
>
> 7. Drain the brine, heat to boiling and pour over the pickles. Let stand
> 24 hours.
>
> 8. Drain the brine, heat to boiling and pour over the pickles. Let stand
> 24 hours.
>
> 9. Drain the brine, heat to boiling and pour over the pickles. Let stand
> 24 hours.
>
> 10. Drain the brine, and heat the liquid to boiling. Pack pickles (with
> cinnamon sticks) into hot, sterilized 1/2 pint (or pint) jars. When the
> syrup has boiled vigorously for a few minutes, pour it into the jars,
> leaving 1/8 inch headspace. Put the lids on, and wait for them to "pop"
> seal. ;-)
>
> Note: The syrup is very, very sticky - make sure you clean the outsides
> of the jars or wipe them off under hot water and get all the stickies
> off, after they are sealed.
>
>
> --
> Wayne in Phoenix
>
> unmunge as w-e-b
>
> *If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.
> *A mind is a terrible thing to lose.