Small Green Pickles

Name: Small Green Pickles
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 96 h 20 min

December 3, 2010

Prep 20 min Total 96 hr 20 min

Small green pickles © kvalifood.com

Pickled gherkins with dill and shallots are a classic Danish preserve that takes time but keeps well. The process runs in three stages over four days: soaking in water, a salt brine, and a vinegar bath — before the boiled pickling brine is poured over. This is a large batch and yields plenty for the whole winter.

Ingredients

Yields 120 pickles (5 kg cucumbers)

120 small green gherkins (about 5 kg)
Brine: 100 g salt per 1 l water
3 l vinegar
500 g sugar
1/2-1 kg shallots (or pearl onions)
10 dill heads
1 spice bag with mixed pickling spices
3 cloves garlic (optional)
1 tbsp preserving liquid

Directions

Day 1 — Soaking in water

Scrub and wash the cucumbers thoroughly and rinse them in several changes of cold water. Cut a thin slice off each end. Place the cucumbers in cold water and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Day 2 — Salt brine

Bring a brine of 100 g salt per liter of water to a boil and let it cool completely. Remove the cucumbers from the water, place them in the brine and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Days 3–4 — Vinegar bath

Remove the cucumbers from the brine and pour raw vinegar over them. Refrigerate for two days.

Boiling and potting

Drain the vinegar from the cucumbers and bring it to a boil with the peeled onions, sugar, dill, pickling spices, and garlic if using, until the sugar has dissolved. Pack the cucumbers into a clean jar. Remove the brine from the heat, stir in the preserving liquid, and pour the boiling brine over the cucumbers. Seal immediately.

Notes

Remove the pickling spices after 1 month — otherwise the pickles will become too strong
Slightly larger cucumbers should be pricked with a fork instead of just having the ends sliced off
Cucumbers can be bitter at the stem end — taste a couple and cut off any bitter part
Measure the water poured over the cucumbers to calculate how much brine is needed to cover them
Store in a cool, dark place; ready to use after about 1 month