SAINT JOE, Ind. — Sechler’s Pickles was founded over a century ago by Ralph and Anne Sechler. 

Max Troyer, General Manager in 1997, purchased the firmin 2008.   More than 50 pickle, relish, and salsa varieties, including pickle-flavored candy canes, are available. 

Sugar continues to be a key ingredient in the Sechler’s sweetening process.  Many of its processes of making pickles have changed very little, if at all, over the years. Tours of the factory were available during the annual St. Joe, Ind., Pickle Festival held July 10-15 where the consumer could learn how their pickles are made.  

Sechler’s cucumbers come from growers in Michigan, Florida, and New Mexico where they are separated by machine and graded into several different categories. Sechler’s then uses two methods of preservation for the sorted cucumbers:  fresh-pack (packed and processed as they came from the field with no additional processing in between) or process pickles.

Fresh-pack pickles are rinsed, sliced and cooked in the jar. Process pickles undergo tank curing where cucumbers soak outdoors in 1,000-bushel oak tanks, fermenting in a mixture of water, salt and calcium chloride. This can take six weeks and up to one year in storage

Once curing is completed, the pickles are thoroughly rinsed, cleaned and possibly sweetened, depending on the final product. The candied varieties undergo a second sweetening treatment using even more sugar. Turmeric may be added to give the pickles a yellow color.

Sechler’s Pickles can be found in Midwest retail stores and ordered online at sechlerspickles.com.