To Pickle Gherkins
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the gherkins
Gather gherkins on a dry day before frost.
Remove blossoms from the gherkins.
Place the gherkins in a stone jar.
Prepare a brine by dissolving 6 oz salt in each quart of water and letting it stand 24 hours.
Pour boiling brine over the gherkins to cover them well.
The next day, remove the gherkins from the brine.
Wipe each gherkin singly.
Place the gherkins in a clean stone jar with a dozen bay leaves on top.
Make the pickle
Prepare the pickle brine: bring vinegar to a boil, then add enough to cover the gherkins by an inch or two, add 1.25 oz salt, 0.25 oz black peppercorns, 1.5 oz sliced or bruised ginger, and 2 small blades mace per quart.
Pour the pickle brine over the gherkins in the jar.
Cover the jar with a plate.
Leave the jar for two days.
Heat and finish
Drain off the vinegar.
Heat the drained vinegar afresh.
When it boils, add the gherkins back to the vinegar.
Keep them just on the point of simmering for 2–3 minutes.
Pour the whole back into the jar.
Place the plate on the jar again.
Let the mixture remain until the pickle is quite cold.
When cold, tie a skin or two separate folds of thick brown paper over the jar.
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. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Gherkins (in the method)
- Are the vegetable being preserved; their firm texture is kept by the salt and vinegar treatment.
- Vinegar (in the method)
- Provides the acidity that preserves the gherkins and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
- Salt (in the method)
- Draws water out of the gherkins and seasons the brine, helping them firm and stay crisp.
The step that matters
Keep the gherkins just on the point of simmering. Boiling the gherkins in vinegar would soften them and make them mushy. Holding them just below a boil for 2–3 minutes heats them through while keeping their firm texture.
“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.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.