Canning pickles yourself

Canning pickles yourself

Reduce the pickles

Before you can enjoy the crunchy snack, the small gherkins must be soaked in a vinegar stock for a longer period of time. The brine penetrates the vegetables and makes them durable by successfully preventing the penetration of bacteria by the acid present. This process makes the pickled cucumbers durable for a longer time.

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For three to four medium-sized jars of pickles you need about 1 kilo of small cucumbers, 1 onion, dill, vinegar, water and a ready-made spice mixture with mustard seeds, juniper berries and bay leaf for pickling. If you have the appropriate spices in stock, you can put your mix together yourself. The ideal mason jars for pickles are jars with screw caps.

  1. Sterilize your jars by placing them in boiling water for a few minutes. Drain the glasses on a clean tea towel.
  2. Wash the cucumbers thoroughly. It's best to use a vegetable brush to scrub it up properly.
  3. Remove the stem end with a sharp knife.
  4. You can pickle the cucumbers whole, or you can cut them into slices or wedges.
  5. Divide the dill into several portions and wash it under running water.
  6. Peel the onion and cut it into rings.
  7. Bring 1 liter of water together with 500 ml of vinegar of your choice (wine vinegar is good) and 2 tablespoons of salt to a boil in a large saucepan.
  8. Distribute the cucumbers, the onions, the dill and some of the preserving spices in the prepared jars.
  9. Pour the boiling vinegar over the vegetables. The jars must be full to the brim, no cucumbers should be sticking out.
  10. Immediately screw the lids on the jars and turn them over for a few minutes. This creates a vacuum in the glass.
  11. Let the jars cool, then put them in a dark, cool place.

If you preserve cucumbers in this way, they will last until the next harvest, if they have been properly worked. If not, the cucumber water will turn cloudy after a few days and you will unfortunately have to dispose of the contents of the jar.

After about a week, the cucumbers are soaked that they can be tasted. If you want to snack on pickles earlier, you should insert cucumber slices. These only need two to three days to pull through.

It is best to keep opened pickle jars in the refrigerator.