Why it works: Vinegar and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Cucumber Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Brine
In a large pot, combine 1 gallon of water with 2 cups of coarse sea salt and heat until scalding.
Pour the hot brine over the cucumbers and let them sit overnight.
In the morning, drain the cucumbers.
Vinegar and finish
Scald 1 gallon of vinegar and pour it over the pickles, letting them sit for 24 hours.
Mix 2 teaspoons of pulverized alum with 1 gallon of fresh vinegar, heat it, and pour it over the pickles.
Add 1 tablespoon of sugar and spices to taste.
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.
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Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws water out of the cucumbers and seasons the brine, firming the pickles as they cure.
- Vinegar
- Provides acidity that preserves the pickles and gives them their sour flavor.
- Pulverized alum
- Helps keep the cucumbers firm and crisp during pickling.
- Sugar
- Balances the sourness of the vinegar with a touch of sweetness.
The step that matters
Draining and re-scalding the vinegar. Cucumbers must be fully drained before the vinegar is poured over them, otherwise the brine dilutes the vinegar and weakens the acidity that preserves the pickles. Heating the vinegar helps it penetrate and firm the cucumbers.
“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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