At-Home Pickling

Got some cukes on hand? Well today is their lucky day, they have the honor of being pickled! Here some pickling recipes for the at-home pickler, courtesy of the Pickle Preservation Society.

We will gladly accept any and all contibutions. Send your recipes, as well as reviews of recipes you tried from our page, to recipes@pickleking.com and we'll post 'em.

Here's our current list of recipes we got in the barrel:

Bread and Butter Pickles
Cucumber Pickles
Curry Pickles
End of Garden Pickles
Grandpop's Garlic Dills
Icicle Pickles
Kosher Pickles
Lime Pickles
Mustard Pickles
Refrigerator Pickles (no canning neccessary)
Relish
Russian Brine Pickles

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-- Bread and Butter Pickles
From Ethel Wyckoff

4 quarts medium, unwaxed cucumbers (measure after slicing)
6 medium onions, sliced
2 green peppers, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup kosher salt
5 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
2 tablespoons mustard seed
3 cups cider vinnegar
Cracked ice

Do not peel cucumbers, slice thin. Add onions, peppers, and whole garlic cloves. Add salt. Cover with cracked ice and mix thoroughly. Let stand 3 hours. Drain well. Combine remaining ingredients in separate bowl. Pour over cucumber mixture. Heat just to boil. Seal in hot, sterilized jars. Process for 10 minutes.

Yield: 8 pints

-- Cucumber Pickles
From Mrs. A. (Marguerite) Miltner

5 medium-sized cucumbers, washed and sliced thin
3 onions, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup kosher salt
1 cup vinnegar
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon turmeric

Combine cucumbers and onions, add salt. Let stand 2 hours and drain. Separately, heat together remaining ingredients. Add cucumbers and onions. Boil slowly 5-7 minutes until tender and crisp. Pack whil ehot in hot sterilized jars.

-- Curry Pickles
Family recipe from Steve Hougland

36 med. pickling cukes-thinly sliced

pour boiling water over slices and let stand 3 hours
mix together in large kettle:

1 qt. vinegar
6 TB. Salt
6 cup sugar
2 TB. mustard seed
1 TB. Celery seed
1 TB. curry powder

Let come to a boil & add pickle slices - simmer until they turn translucent - do not boil.

Pack into pint jars and seal and process in waterbath canner for time recommended in your area.

Makes 14 pints.

-- End of the Garden Pickles
From Becky Hopper

1 cup sliced cucumbers
1 cup chopped sweet peppers
1 cup chopped cabbage
1 cup sliced onions
1 cup chopped green tomatoes
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup green string beans cut in inch pieces
2 tablespoons mustard seed
1 tablespoon celery seed
1 cup chopped celery
2 cups vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons turmeric

Soak cucumbers, peppers, cabbage, onions and tomatoes in salt water overnight(1/2 cup salt to 2 cups water). Drain. Cook the carrots and string beans in boiling water until tender; drain well. Mix soaked and cooked vegetables with remaining ingredients and boil 10 minutes. Pack into sterilized KERR Jars; seal at once.

-- Grandpop's Garlic Dills
From Raymond K. Tilden

Mix up 6 ounces of salt in 1 gallon water to make brine.
For each quart of pickles place a handful of fresh, snipped dill in a quart jar. Use enough dill to cover the bottom of the jar.
Pack in pickling cucumbers
Add 1 teaspoon of pickling spice, 2-3 cloves garlic, and 1 hot red pepper (optional)
Cover with brine
Let stand a room temperature for 7-10 days depending on taste
Keep refrigerated

-- Icicle Pickles
From Trish - SOURCE: "An Herb and Spice Cook Book", by Craig Claiborne, copyright 1963

3 pounds inch pickling cucumbers
6 to 7 small onions, peeled, quarters
6 to 7 (inch) celery pieces
1 Tablespoon mustard seed
4 cups white vinegar
2-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup pickling salt
1 cup water

Wash cucumbers, cut lengthwise into eighths. Soak in ice water 3 hours. Drain, pack into clean jars. Add 1 onion, 1 piece celery and 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed to each jar. Combine vinegar and remaining ingredients, heat to boiling. Pour vinegar solution over cucumbers to within 1/2 inch of top, making sure vinegar solution covers cucumbers. Cap each jar at once. Process 10 minutes in boiling water bath.

Makes 6 to 7 pints.

-- Kosher Pickles: The Right Way
From Mark Bittman, New York Times

1/2 cup kosher salt
1 cup boiling water
2 pounds small Kirby cucumbers, washed, and cut into halves or quarters
5 cloves or more garlic, peeled and smashed
1 large bunch dill, if desired, fresh and with flowers OR 2 tablespoons dried dill and 1 teaspoon dill seeds, OR a tablesoon of coriander seeds

1. In a large bowl, combine the salt and boiling water; stir to dissolve the salt. Add a handful of ice cubes to cool down the mixture, then add all remaining ingredients.

2. Add cold water to cover. Use a plate slightly smaller than the diameter of the bowl and a small weight to hold the cucumbers under the water. Keep at room temperature.

3. Begin sampling the cucumbers after 2 hours if they are quartered, 4 hours if they are halved. In either case, it will probably take from 12 to 24 hours, or even 48 hours, for them to taste "pickly" enough to suit your taste. When they are, refrigerate them, still in the brine. The pickles will continue to forment as they sit, more quickly at room temperature, more slowly in the refrigerator.

Yield: About 30 pickle quarters.

-- Lime Pickles
From Louise Wasilevitch

5 pounds cleaned weight cucumbers (peeled, seeded, cubed)
1 cup powdered pickling lime
1 gallon cold water

1. Soak prepared cukes in water and lime for 24 hours.

2. Next day, drain and wash cukes. Cover with cold water. Soak 3 hours.

3. Drain cukes. Cover again with cold water. Soak 3 hours.

4. Drain cukes and tap dry on a large towel.

5. Make syrup with following:

5 cups sugar
4 cups plus 6 tablespoons white vinnegar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon mixed pickling spice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

6. Put cukes in this uncooked syrup for 12 hours or overnight.

7. Drain off syrup. Add 1/2 cup sugar to it and bring to boil in large saucepan.

8. Add cukes. Simmer 45 minutes.

9. Fill hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Seal immediately.

Yield: 7-8 pints

-- Mustard Pickles
From Greenlawn Pickle Works

1 quart small green tomatoes
1 quart small pickling onions
1 head cauliflower
1 gallon cold water
6 tablespoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon turmeric
4 red bell peppers
2 quarts small cucumbers
2 cups salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons celery seed
Distilled white vinnegar

1. Cut tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and cauliflower in medium pieces. Add onions.

2. Make brine of salt and water and pour over vegetables, let stand 24 hours. Heat just to scalding point, then drain.

3. Mix flour, mustard, sugar, celery seed, and turmeric with enough cold vinnegar to make 2 quarts in all. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.

4. Add pickles. Heat thoroughly and pour into sterilized, hot jars and seal. Process 10 minutes.

Yield: 4 pints

-- Refrigerator Pickles (No canning necessary)
From Mrs. A. (Mary) Lutz

Mildly sweet; stay crunchy up to about 3 weeks in the refigerator.

3 large cucumbers (1" to 1 1/2" diameter) sliced about 1 1/16" thick (do not peel)
1 medium-sized green pepper (seeds removed)
1 medium-sized onion
1 tablespoon table salt
2 teaspoons celery seed
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinnegar

Chop pepper and onion, and place along with sliced cucumbers into a 1 1/2 quart size jar or bowl. Add salt and celery seed. Stir gently and let stand one hour. Combine sugar and vinnegar in separate bowl, stir to dissolve. Pour over vegetables and stir to blend. Cover and refrigerate, pickles are ready to eat in one day. Store covered in refrigerator.

Yield: 5 cups

-- Relish
From USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning

3 qts chopped cucumbers
3 cups each of chopped sweet green and red peppers
1 cup chopped onions
3/4 cup canning or pickling salt
4 cups ice
8 cups water
2 cups sugar
4 tsp each of mustard seed, turmeric, whole allspice, and whole cloves
6 cups white vinegar (5 percent)

Yield: About 9 pints

Procedure: Add cucumbers, peppers, onions, salt, and ice to water and let stand 4 hours. Drain and re-cover vegetables with fresh ice water for another hour. Drain again. Combine spices in a spice or cheesecloth bag. Add spices to sugar and vinegar. Heat to boiling and pour mixture over vegetables. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Heat mixture to boiling and fill hot into clean jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

Adjust lids and process according to the recommendations:

Recommended process time for Pickle Relish in a boiling-water canner.
Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of Pack Jar Size 0 - 1,000 ft 1,001 - 6,000 ft Above 6,000 ft
Hot Half-pints or Pints 10 min 15 20

-- Russian Brine Pickles
From T. Collins

This recepie is from my father-in-law in Finland. He got it from afriend that spent some time in Russia. Natural fermentation cures the cucumbers much the same way sauerkraut is made.

15 to 20 lbs of cucumbers.
12 medium cloves of garlic, chopped.
80 grams of horseradish, chopped. Make sure yours is zesty. Some can be pretty bland and you don't want that!
4 bunches of dill
2 chili peppers chopped. I used the yellow long ones and got good results. Jalapenos were too mild. Carefull you don't make em too hot!
250 grams of sea salt
6 liters of water

Select only the freshest cucumbers. Avoid old and damaged cucumbers. I grow my own or buy them at roadside farm stands as the store-bought are not fresh enough to avoid mushy pickles. Trim off the stems and scrub them under water. Dissolve the salt in the water. It's easier if you heat the water. Let the brine cool to room temperature.

Place the ingredients in a clean painters-type plastic bucket in four layers. Add the brine to cover the ingredients. It is important that all the ingredients are totally submerged to avoid spoilage. Place a heavy plate over the ingredients to weigh them down. A heavy stone is handy for adding a little extra weight. Cover the bucket with a loose lid.

Allow the pickles to cure for a few days in a warm room. You will notice bubbles forming. This is the normal fermentation process at work. If a scum or film forms on the surface, skim it away. It is normal. After a few days to a week and you are certain the fermentation is working, move the bucket to a cooler place such as a basement. In about 2 or 3 weeks, the process will be finished.

As always with preserving food, be carefull of spoilage. Slimy pickles or a bad odor a sign of spoilage. Some shriveling is normal especially if your cucumbers were not very fresh. Don't eat them if you suspect they have gone bad.

The cooler the place you store the bucket, the longer they will last. I kept mine for about 5 months. Every now and then I had to skim off a mold from the surface that was similar to bread mold. The pickles were not at all harmed by this. I picked a few pickles at a time and kept them handy in the fridge in some of the brine and these will keep indefinitly. The original recepie called for a piece of sour hardtack bread to give the bacteria some extra food and that contributed to the mold and extra cloudiness in my brine. The bread is entirely unnecssary in warmer climes but can be useful near the arctic.

Any questions, write to me and I'll try to help. I would love to hear from anyone that tries them. This is probably the original way to make pickles. Vinegar in store bought pickles is used to simulate the taste of the fermentation process.

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Page Last modified on 6/3/00