My mother and grandmother use to make pickles so sour they would make you pucker and your eyes squint, just looking at them. Both have passed away and with them the recipe.

When I was a kid I helped my mother and remember some from that. What has me confused is most of the recipes I find in books or on the internet say to seal the jars. My mother never sealed her jars of pickles. Also, most say to use small cukes. My mother always used large cukes, probably 6-8" long, maybe more.

She made them in one gallon glass jugs from restaurants. I have one that still has the original dill pickle label on it.

I know she didn't seal them because after mixing everything together she would screw the cover on, set them in the cellar and tell us kids not to touch them, that it would take 6-8 weeks until they were ready.

Of course within a couple weeks we would open a jar to get a sample. Then the cover would be screwed back on.

There was never a problem with spoilage.

My aunt had a recipe using vinegar, sugar, salt, pickling spices and dry mustard. Her recipe says to use small cukes and to seal the jars.

Does anyone know of a recipe that allows sour pickles to be made using cider vinegar, without sealing the jars? This really has me puzzled.

Wouldn't the vinegar and salt preserve the pickles without sealing? Did my mother and grandmother have some little known secret?