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Cucumber Pickles

A method for preserving cucumbers by layering with salt, brining, scalding in vinegar, and storing in cold spiced vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Cucumber and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,734 recipes. Both carry 2-methylbutyl acetate, which smells fruit. The science ↓

Cucumber Pickles

Ingredients

Directions

Brine

  1. Pack a layer of cucumbers in a container with ½ cup of coarse sea salt, ensuring the salt layer is at least ½ inch thick.

  2. Add another layer of cucumbers and cover with salt. Repeat until all cucumbers are packed.

  3. Pour 1 pint of cold water over the cucumbers to create brine.

  4. Place a board over the pickles and weigh it down to keep them submerged.

  5. Cover the container with a thick layer of salt and seal it.

  6. Store in a cool cellar.

Soak and pickle

  1. When ready to use, soak the cucumbers in water for 3 days, changing the water daily.

  2. Scald the cucumbers in vinegar until it just boils, then drain.

  3. Transfer the cucumbers to cold spiced vinegar and let them sit for a week before using.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,734 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cucumbers
Firm cucumbers are the base of the pickle and stay crisp through the brining process.
Coarse sea salt
Draws water out of the cucumbers and preserves them during the long brine.
Spiced vinegar
Acidity and spice flavour the cucumbers during the final week of pickling.

The step that matters

Keep the cucumbers submerged in brine. Cucumbers exposed to air can spoil or mould during the long salt cure. A weighted board holds them under the brine so the salt protects them throughout storage.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

More cucumber pickles recipes

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