Article: Kirby cucumbers are the "classic" pickling cucumber, and are recommended for sweet and crunchy pickles. Typically, for pickling a batch, you'll want at least two or three pounds of cucumbers. Rinse them thoroughly and cut them in the desired shape. You can cut them into rounds or chips, spears, or keep them whole for pickling. If you keep them whole, trim off the flower-end of the cucumber. To ensure crispy canned pickles, pack your sliced or whole cucumbers in salt and ice and keep them in the fridge for up to 24 hours before you pickle them. In a bowl, toss 3-4 tbsp of kosher salt with your cucumbers and an equal amount of ice. Cover the bowl with a wet towel or plastic wrap and keep them in the fridge while you prepare the other ingredients and supplies. If you're going to can the pickles, you'll want a 1: 1 ratio of vinegar to water for making the "pickle juice." Depending on how many pickles you have, a quart should be enough. You can always mix up more on the fly. Regular white vinegar is fine, or you can use cider vinegar or another vinegar you prefer. To this, add 1.5 tbsp of kosher salt. Mix in a saucepan or pot. Heat the mixture on the stove until it comes to a boil. Lower the head and keep it at a steady temperature. It needs to be at boiling temperature to pickle the cucumbers. "Pickle crisp" is a commercial pickling product used to keep pickles crispy. It's basically calcium chloride. A natural alternative to pickle crisp is to use grape leaves in the jars, which was the traditional way to keep the pickles from softening. How you want to spice your pickles is up to you, but a typical "pickling spice" mixture includes black peppercorns, dill seeds, smashed or sliced garlic cloves, and red pepper flakes if you like some kick. You can either throw the dried spices into the pickling solution, or you can stuff the spice mix into the jars after you've prepared them and before you've inserted the pickles. Either is an effective way of spicing the pickles, but packing an amount in each jar will ensure an even amount of spice in each jar.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Get some cucumbers. Wash and process the cucumbers. Brine the cucumbers. Mix up your pickling solution. Prepare your pickling spices.