Name: Danish White Cucumber Pickles
Ingredients: 7 large cucumbers (Cukes must be very large but not soft or yellow); 8 cups sugar; 8 1/2 cups pickling vinegar; 1 cup water

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 ↓

Danish White Cucumber Pickles

Ingredients

7 large cucumbers (Cukes must be very large but not soft or yellow)
8 cups sugar
8 1/2 cups pickling vinegar
1 cup water

Directions

Prepare

Sterilize 8 pint jars.
Make syrup by putting the sugar, vinegar, and water in a large pot, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Bring the syrup to a boil. When filling jars, keep the syrup at a full boil.

Cut the cucumbers

Peel the cucumbers, cut them in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds.
Cut cucumbers into 1/2" spears that are about 3/4" shorter than the pint jar, allowing some headroom. As you cut the cucumbers, place the prepared spears in ice water until you put them into the jars.

Pack and seal

Pack jars tightly with the spears standing upright, placing spears on top of the spears already in the jar.
Fill jars with boiling vinegar/syrup and seal.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

68Calories

1 gProtein

0 gFat

16 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Water	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

Cucumber + vinegartop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,734 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Cucumber + sugartop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,112 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Cucumbers: Provide the crisp, firm body of the pickles, which must be large and firm, not soft.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps preserve the pickles by drawing out moisture.
Pickling vinegar: Supplies acidity that sets the flavour and helps preserve the pickles.

The step that matters

Keep the syrup at a full boil when filling jars. Boiling syrup poured over the spears heats the cucumbers and the jar, helping the seal form and keeping the pickles safely preserved. Syrup that cools too much may leave the jars under-processed.

Swap the cucumber

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, vinegar):

Mustardfits better
Capsicumfits about as well
Cucumberthe original
Beetrootfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

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Danish White Cucumber Pickles