I figured, how hard could this be? So I took a crack at it. turns out, not very hard at all. These things are amazing. And they don’t require any cooking of any kind! You mix up the brine in a bowl and then pour it over cut cucumbers. And that’s it. You’re done.
As with any pickle, these get better the longer they sit. You will want to let them sit in the brine for at least a day before serving. From what I read online they stay good for a month in the refrigerator, but they don’t last that long for me. However, since there’s no cooking involved, these aren’t suitable for canning. They will go bad.
Another note: if you can keep them in the fridge, great. If not, however, for instance if you’re making a 5 gallon bucket of pickles, then to keep the cucumbers from spoiling, you will want to be able to keep them submerged. What I’ve read online recommends covering them with cheesecloth and then putting something on top of the cucumbers to keep them under the surface of the brine. I’m making them weekly so I can just keep them in the fridge in small quantities, but that may not work for everyone.
Finally, a note on proportions. I like a mixture of 1 part salt, 3 parts vinegar, 6 parts water. But that’s totally up to you (as are the spices). You should absolutely take the opportunity to play around with this to get your spice mix right.
Ingredients
1/2 cup kosher salt (I don’t know why, but everything I read online said that you should absolutely NOT use regular old iodized table salt. apparently it doesn’t work)
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
3 cups water
2 pounds cucumbers, cleaned and sliced up however you want them
1 big thing with a lid on it that you can put everything in
2 tablespoons pickling spices (you can often find this in the spice aisle of the grocery store. You could also look up mixtures online and make your own. I got mine from my nearby spice store).
1 head garlic, shelled (this way you also get pickled garlic when you’re done)
1 bunch of dill, chopped
Directions:
put your chopped up cucumbers in whatever container you want to use.
Mix together the water, salt, and vinegar in a separate bowl, and mix them together until the salt is fully dissolved. Add in the dill, garlic, and pickling spices and stir until it’s mixed up.
Pour the vinegar solution over the cucumbers, and like I said above, either put a lid on it and throw them in the fridge, or find some way to submerge them and leave them out. Either way, give it a day or two before eating.
eatbensmeat 