Ok, I got to try the refrigerator pickles out that I made. The canned ones won't be ready until September so I made some refrigerator ones because they are ready in four to five days. They were amazing!
In case you want to try some here is what I did.
Brine mixture:
1 cup water
1 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon pickling salt
1 teaspoon pickling spices
Four ghost peppers sliced up
Put this all in a pot on the stove and bring to a boil. Once it has boiled I removed the ghost peppers (I was using the end caps off of a ton of peppers as I was making hot sauce at the same time). You could leave them in if you want I just figured I got the oils out of them and they would be mushy.
Prepare a canning jar by sterilizing it either in an oven at 200 degrees for an hour or boiling water (I think for at least 15 minutes).
Lids also get sterilized by boiling in water.
For the pickles, I used Kirby cucumbers, fresh Dill, ghost peppers, pickling spices and garlic.
Cut the ends off of the cucumbers, apparently they contain enzyme that can make the pickle soft (bad thing). Cut them into slices, quarters, or chips, whatever your preference is.
Pack some dill into the bottom of the jar (you let it cool before handling it). Smash a couple garlic cloves and drop those in too. Put a half a teaspoon of picking spice in the jar and then fill with cucumbers. [edit] I forgot the most important part, I added two ghost peppers sliced vertically to each jar [/edit]. Top with a little more dill but try and leave about a half inch of clearance at the top of the jar.
Fill with hot brine, put a lid on and tighten it down. Once it has cooled down put them in the refrigerator.
Wait four or five days and enjoy a crisp spicy pickle.
-Alden