Robb's Bread & Butter Pickles
Submitted by dfoubert
Bread and butter pickles with thin-sliced cucumbers and onions brined with salt and ice, then packed in a sweet-sour brown sugar, cider vinegar, mustard, and turmeric syrup.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
25 minREADY
5 hrsThese bread and butter pickles are the sweet, crunchy kind that turn up on diner burgers and church picnic tables. Thin-sliced cucumbers and onions salt-bathed in iced water, then cooked briefly in a warm spiced vinegar syrup until just barely heated through. Four to five jars go into the pantry and appear again as a welcome surprise in February.
The ice bath is the crisp-preserving trick. Three hours in icy salted water firms the cucumber flesh through osmosis before the cucumbers ever meet hot brine. Skip the ice and the pickles go limp in the jar, no matter how pretty the spice mix looks.
Brown sugar (not white) gives these pickles their signature amber color and molasses depth. Combined with apple cider vinegar, the brine lands somewhere between sweet and sharp, with turmeric adding golden color, mustard seed popping with pungency, and whole pickling spice layering warm spices across every bite.
Chef Tips
- Use small, firm pickling cucumbers (Kirby or Boston Pickling) rather than standard slicers. Salad cucumbers are too watery and go mushy.
- Slice cucumbers ⅛ inch thick, not thicker. Thin slices absorb brine fully and stay crunchy. Thicker slices stay bland in the middle.
- Sterilize jars, rings, and lids in boiling water for at least 10 minutes before filling. Process sealed jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes for shelf-stable storage.
- Wait at least two weeks before opening a jar. Fresh pickles taste sharp and underwhelming. Two-week pickles taste like what you wanted.
Variations
- Add a few slices of jalapeño or a teaspoon of red pepper flakes to the brine for sweet-hot pickles.
- Swap white onions for thinly sliced red onions for a pinker, slightly sweeter finish.
- Add a teaspoon of whole coriander seeds to the brine for brighter citrus-like notes.
Ingredients
Directions
- Cucumbers should be unwaxed, about 4 to 5 inches long, sliced ⅛” thick.
** Onions should be as big around as the cucumbers, sliced Have ready 4 to 5 pint canning jars, rings, and lids, sterilized. Layer cucumbers and onions in large glass, plastic, or stainless steel bowl, sprinkling each layer with pickling salt. Add water to cover. Add cracked ice. Let stand at least 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Important: Standing period and use of ice insures very crisp pickles. Combine brown sugar, vinegar, water, mustard seed, celery seed, pickling spices, tumeric, and cloves in large stainless steel or non-stick kettle. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes. Let stand, covered, 2 to 3 hours. Remove any remaining ice from cucumbers and onions, drain and rinse under cold water. Return pickling solution to a boil. Add cucumbers and onions to pickling solution and heat until almost boiling. Simmer gently 4 to 5 minutes. Place jar lids in simmering water for at least 5 minutes. Pack pickles tightly in jars, pressing down with wooden spoon. Cover with hot pickling solution to within ¼ inch of jar rim. Cap jars with lids.
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