Ingredients
Scale
- 125g Salt (don’t use expensive sea salt flakes, table salt is fine for this)
- 4 cups Water
- 600g Fresh Gherkins or Small Snacking Cucumbers
- 1tsp Whole Black Peppercorns
- Several Dill Sprigs
- 2 cups White Wine Vinegar
- 2 tsp Whole Mustard Seeds
- 2 tsp Salt (extra, same as above table salt is fine)
- 2 tsp Caster Sugar
Instructions
- Mix the salt and water in a bowl until the salt has dissolved. I trimmed the tops of the cucumbers just so they would fit into my jar but you can leave them with a little amount of stalk if you like.
- Add the gherkins to the brine and leave for 12 hours, covered, stirring often. I left mine overnight and they were perfectly fine with a stir every couple of hours but it’s really up to you.
- Drain and rinse the gherkins well under fresh water and leave to drain. Sterilise a large Kilner jar that will hold all the gherkins snugly, while they drain. If you need to know how to sterilise the jars, check out the link to my lemon curd post above.
- In a saucepan, add the extra salt, sugar, vinegar, peppercorns and coriander seeds (or mustard seed), bring to the boil and carefully pour over the packed gherkins in the jar, including the peppercorns and coriander seeds.
- Seal the jar whilst the brine is still hot and leave to cool. These lovelies need to be stored in the dark for 2 months before trying – upsetting I know that you can’t tuck right it, but I hear patience is a virtue. So in two months time, I’ll post an update as to whether they were a success or not- here’s fingers crossed!
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Home Preserving
- Method: Home Preserving
- Cuisine: American