Cooking in the Classroom - Pickled!

I originally was going to have a pickle tasting in my class, but after my yummy pickle making experience at home, I decided that the kids would enjoy making pickles too! I was right. We made them during our morning free-choice time so that the kids could easily come in and out and participate according to their own interest. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the boys were the most eager to help.



I used the quick dill pickle recipe but substituted plain white vinegar for the white wine vinegar. This resulted in a more sour pickle.

I'll take you through the pictures below so you can see how refrigerator pickles were achieved in a classroom that just pretends to have a real kitchen.



Eli is cutting the pickling cucumbers I got at the farmer's market with a wavy chopper. This is my vintage chopper from home, but I plan on getting some for the classroom. It is easy to use for little hands. We layered the cucumbers with chopped dill in empty, clean jars.



The kids helped me measure the vinegar and add the sugar, salt, and pepper. I doubled the recipe. For quickness, I got all my ingredients ready the night before.



The pot of vinegar coming to a boil on our "stove." Yes, our room smelled like vinegar all day!



Carefully pouring the hot liquid into the jars. I had a quite an audience during this part.



Our pickles! We let them "pickle" all morning and then devoured a jar during lunch. Everyone was amazed by the change the cucumbers went through.

The second jar was eaten over the next several days when kids begged for them. For some reason, I never took pictures of us eating them. The happy, sour faces were cute, though!