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Eight-Day Bread & Butter Pickles

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Submitted by cherie1

Old-fashioned eight-day bread and butter pickles made in a crock with cucumbers soaked in boiling water, then cured in a sweet vinegar syrup reheated daily for extra crunch.

YIELD

1 batch

PREP

20 min

COOK

15 min

READY

8 days

This is old-school pickle making. No quick refrigerator shortcut, no water bath canner. Just a crock, eight days of patience, and a process that grandmothers swore by for the crunchiest bread and butter pickles you’ll ever bite into.

The first four days are all about the cucumbers. Fresh boiling water poured over them daily draws out moisture and firms up the flesh. By day five, those cucumbers have a dense, crisp texture that holds up to the sweet pickling syrup without turning soft.

Then you cut them into chunks, make the syrup from vinegar, sugar, salt, and pickling spices, and pour it over hot. For the next four days, you reheat that syrup and pour it over again each day. Every round drives the sweet-tangy flavor deeper into the cucumbers while the repeated heating acts as a preservation step.

It’s an eight-quart batch, so plan on having jars to share.

Pro Tips

  • Use pickling cucumbers, not slicing cucumbers. Slicers go soft no matter what you do
  • Keep the crock covered and in a cool spot between pours. A basement or cool pantry is ideal
  • Don’t skip any of the daily reheat-and-pour steps. Consistency is what builds both flavor and shelf stability
  • Make sure the syrup fully covers the cucumbers each time. Exposed pieces won’t pickle evenly

Variations

  • Add a sliced onion to the crock on day five for bread and butter pickles with onion
  • Toss in a few whole cloves of garlic with the syrup for a savory edge
  • Use apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar for a mellower, warmer tang

Ingredients

8 8
QUARTS QUARTS CUCUMBERS *
4 946
CUPS ML VINEGAR
2 10
TEASPOONS ML PICKLING SPICE *
8 1.9
CUPS L SUGAR
5 25
TEASPOONS ML SALT

Directions

Place cucumbers in a crock; pour boiling water over to cover each day for four days.

Use fresh water each day. Keep crock covered and cool.

On the fifth day, cut cucumbers into ½ inch to ¾ inch pieces.

Mix other ingredients and bring to a boil.

Pour over cut-up cucumbers in crock.

Reheat this syrup each day for four days and pour over cucumbers.

Keep covered and cool at all other times.

Pack cucumbers in jars and fill with heated syrup, leaving ½ inch headspace, then seal.

* not incl. in nutrient facts Arrow up button

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Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 646g (22.8 oz)
Amount per Serving
Calories 1590 0% from fat
 % Daily Value *
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 2952mg 123%
Total Carbohydrate 133g 133%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Sugars g
Protein 0g
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 2% Iron 1%
* based on a 2,000 calorie diet How is this calculated?
Low Fat, Fat-Free, Low in Saturated Fat, Low Cholesterol, Cholesterol-Free, Trans-fat Free
 

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