Hello folks :).

I have done a lot of canning, freezing, and drying, but until now I couldn't eat vinegar-y things, so I have never made pickles.

I figured I'd start with one jar of refrigerator pickles, see how that goes. Simple, right? I plan to use some mixed garden vegies -- green and purple string beans, carrots, magda and zukes.

Looking at recipes online, I see that even the ones intended for fridge only, no canning, say to boil the vinegar and spice mix first. Why is that? To dissolve the sugar?

If I am not using much sugar, and it just dissolves readily, do I still need to boil? Or is it more about heating the spices, and/or par-cooking the vegies when they are added to hot brine?

Thanks for your help!