I understand that you don't want to do any canning but pickling is also food preservation and it has safety concerns attached to it. That's why the Harvest forum - the food preservation forum - exists for discussions such as this and is full of info on how to do it properly and safely. The problem with using slicing cukes for pickles, and this is discussed in great detail on the Harvest forum, is they contain 2-3x as much water as pickling cukes do and have a thinner rind. The result is mushy pickles. Experienced pickle makers will not use them to make any kind of pickles just for that reason. You can off-set some of that mushiness by using Pickle Crisp (calcium chloride). The Mrs. Wages and Ball pickling mixes have it added to them. They also contain citric acid to make the pickles even safer. If using other recipes you have to add your own Ca chloride and citric acid. But the pickles will still be softer if you use slicing cukes and many have sadly discovered that the hard way. You may be happy with the result but most pickle makers are not. Second, since the discovery of listeria, a bacteria which grows even under refrigeration, many of the old 'fridge pickle' recipes are no longer considered safe because they contain too little vinegar, they are not acidic enough for even fridge storage. Cukes are a low-acid vegetable so botulism, in addition to the listeria, is a potential problem when refrigerator pickles are made improperly. Thus the citric acid in the Mrs. Wages mixes. Dave

You can improve the quality of pickled okra by getting seed for an adapted variety. Granny Franklin is available from Sandhill Preservation and is the best multipurpose okra that I have grown. It is one of the very few that makes topnotch pickled okra.

only heat the amount you will need. leave the remainder cold and it will keep in the refrig. longer. I have not used these spices but I would simply use them cold. I see no valid reason to heat them again if you are keeping them in the refrigerator. I always use vinegar with no water added to preserve the pickles. no need to heat my recipe.

Citric acid, yes. Calcium chloride, no. Dave