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Cucumber Piokles

Pickled cucumbers prepared by soaking in brine, then scalded in vinegar and sugar, and sealed in jars.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Cider and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,431 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Cucumber Piokles

Ingredients

Directions

Brine the cucumbers

  1. Soak cucumbers in strong brine for 2-3 days.

  2. Remove cucumbers and rinse in clear water.

Scald and pack

  1. Place cucumbers in a porcelain kettle.

  2. Combine equal parts water and cider vinegar, then scald the cucumbers in this mixture.

  3. Once boiling, remove cucumbers and place them in glass jars, discarding the liquid.

Make the syrup and seal

  1. In the kettle, scald more cider vinegar; if too strong, dilute with a little water.

  2. Add 1 cup of sugar for every gallon of vinegar and season to taste.

  3. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the cucumbers and seal the jars.

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. Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

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

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  3. Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Cucumber + cidertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together572 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  5. 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
The vegetable being preserved, which becomes firm and crisp during pickling.
Strong brine
Salt draws out water and firms the cucumbers while seasoning them.
Cider vinegar
Provides the acidity that sharpens flavor and helps preserve the pickles.
Sugar
Balances the sharpness of the vinegar with sweetness.

The step that matters

Diluting the hot vinegar. Vinegar strength sets both the sharpness and the balance of the finished pickles. If it is too strong, it overwhelms the cucumbers, so diluting it with a little water and tasting before adding sugar keeps the flavor in balance.

Swap the cucumber

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

  1. Mustardfits better
  2. Cucumberthe original
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Horseradishfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against cider, vinegar, sugar. 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.

More cucumber pickles recipes

Sweet 23Green 9Spiced 9Small 7Sliced 6Sour 5 See all 334 →

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