Homemade Pickles

I am a pickle fiend. When I go to McD’s I’m an extra pickles kind of girl. So I decided, obviously, to stock my pantry with homegrown homemade pickles. It was a great success and even though they were regularly eaten straight from the fridge, I’ve only just cracked open my last jar as I’m putting my new season pickle seedlings into the garden. Perfect.

Now if you’re wanting to take the homegrown route I do recommend going for a real pickling cucumber or gherkin. The deka variety has proven excellent for me, or Kings homemade pickles is a good options too.

I personally haven’t used salad cucumbers for this, as they don’t tend to hold their crunch quite as well. But if you’re not fussed on crunchy factor, I’m sure that a cucumber would work too.

If your using a homegrown pickle, the first step will be to rub off the little prickles. If you’re using store bought this will have already been done for you.

Ingredients

  • 1 kg pickles
  • ΒΌ cup plain salt (not iodised if possible, iodised salt will often turn your pickle juice cloudy)
  • 2 cups white vinegar
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 tsp mustard seeds
  • Fresh dill, optional, but delicious if you have it

Instructions

  1. Wash the pickles, pat dry and trim at both ends. If they are small you can leave them whole, otherwise slice into rounds.
  2. Put the pickles in a large bowl, and sprinkle with the salt. Pop this on the bench, covered with a tea towel until the salt has dissolved (a few hours)
  3. Once ready, bring to the boil the water and vinegar in a pot.
  4. Rinse the salty pickles with boiling water, drain and then rinse again. Put the pickles into hot jars that have been sterilized (I use Agee jars) and add mustard seeds and a few sprigs of fresh dill if your using it.
  5. Pour the hot water/vinegar mix into the jars, and fill almost to the top with the water/vinegar liquid. Run a chopstick around inside the jar to get rid of any air bubbles.
  6. Top up the jar with hot liquid until it is just overflowing and then using a cloth to protect your hands, tightly screw on the lids.
  7. Leave to cool on the bench, before checking for a successful seal and transferring to your pantry. Any unsealed jars should be kept in the fridge.
  8. Your pickles will be full of flavour and ready to eat in around three weeks. Once you open a jar, store it in the fridge.
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