Snack

Dill Pickled Picklebush Cucumbers

July 11, 2023

Fridge Pickles vs Canned Pickles

Pickles and me go way back. In my family we love pickles. I mean we love love LOVE pickles. Personally, I really fell in love with them because my Nanny (Dad’s Grandmother) would send us homemade pickles from her Texas homestead all throughout my childhood during the summer, and let me tell you, those are thee best traditional country style pickle on the planet. For now, that recipe is a family secret, but over the years I started to fall in love with cold pickled cucumbers on a more casual basis than having to go through the whole canning process of heating, sealing, and cooling. With this recipe all you need is time on your side for the flavors to really work themselves into the cucumber and break it down into a mouth puckering garlic-punched salt and vinegar bomb. Let’s walk through the recipe shall we?

Out here in middle Tennessee cucumber season is in full swing and my go-to pickling cucumber variety has to be the trusty Picklebush. It can Yield small gherkin-like cucumbers if you pick them young, medium dill style pickles shortly after, and even some massive Disneyland-style pickles if you’re a little patient with proper fertilizer.

You can use store bought cucumbers if you’d like, but I would encourage you to look for a bag of large PickleBush cucumbers when they have them. They tend to be a seasonal thing at most grocery stores, but I actually have had good luck at Walmart every now and again. Here’s the big secret though, if you can find freshly grown Picklebush cucumbers that haven’t been refrigerated, that is the ticket my friends. In my opinion using a freshly grown cucumber that hasn’t seen a fridge using the cold pickling method is a big difference maker. The same goes for traditional canning methods, but since there’s no cooking process involved with cold pickling it’s important that the freshness of the pickle is majorly highlighted.

With this particular recipe I would stick to slightly larger pickles if possible since we’re really shooting for that deli-style super crunchy dill pickle.

If you want to speed up the pickling process of whole cucumbers you can poke holes in the side of the cucumber with a fork or knife to allow the pickling liquid to sink in a bit faster, but this isn’t necessary if you want to wait another day or two before the whole cucumbers really start to breakdown. This is one of the reasons why I stick to halves or spears because they pickle much faster than whole cuc’s, but whole dill pickles are special if you can’t wait.

There’s endless amounts of dill pickle recipes out there and this one isn’t a secret at all, but its ratios are pretty solid for most salty-sour-style pickles and I use it on a variety of different vegetables. All I use to season the pickling brine is black peppercorns, crushed garlic clove, and freshly torn dill. If you want to to take it to another level, find dill that is just going through a fresh blossom and it is incredible. You can add spicy peppers and extra spices like fennel seed and coriander, but like I said before, this recipe is a basic recipe to build on.

Pour the apple cider vinegar about 1/3 of the way up the side of a large mason jar and fill the rest with cold water.

I would highly recommend using super filtered water or even bottled water for these pickles because I’ve had some overly treated tap water ruin the flavor before and I never could trust it again for pickling. Traditional canned pickles don’t struggle with this issue as much. Salt is a big one for pickles so you can always adjust the amount to your own taste-buds, but I do enjoy my pickles on the salty side.

Add 2 tbsp of kosher salt to the jar. You can add 3 tbsp sugar at this point if you want to turn these into more of a butter pickle along with 1 tsp of turmeric for a deeper pickling liquid color.

Seal the mason jars and give them a careful shake then put them into the fridge to rest for about 48 hrs. I always sneak one about half way through the process, but they really are better if you wait it out.

There’s really nothing to it folks! It’s about as simple and as delicious as a pickle gets without all the fuss with canning. These typically last between 4-6 weeks in the fridge, but never realistically make it that long. Whether its in a tuna fish sandwich, finely chopped for a freshly grilled hot dog, or enjoyed as a refreshing afternoon snack, these beauties can make a lasting and wonderful impression on your friends and family…add a few dry Thai peppers to the mix and it’ll really leave a lasting impression. Enjoy!