Behold the pickle jar!!
This jar has been through numerous incarnations in my kitchen. It was the vessel for my failed attempt at homemade sauerkraut and my way-too-successful forray into the world of Kombucha. But now it has finally found its true calling. It is the pickle jar.
Whenever I make homemade refrigerator pickles — something that is happening with increasing frequency around here lately — they begin their pickled lives in “the jar”. After a few days, when we’ve eaten a good portion of them, I’ll move the pickles into increasingly smaller containers until, alas!, they are gone, and it’s time to get out the pickle jar again.
My most recent batch was bread-and-butter pickles, which are what a pickle should be, in my opinion. I might play with the recipe a bit with future batches — mainly trying different vinegars — but they are pretty close to perfect the way they are. Give them a try and see if you agree.
Refrigerator Bread-and-butter Pickles
Ingredients
- Pickling cucumbers to fill a gallon jar
- 2 medium onions, peeled, halved, and sliced
- 4 cups sugar
- 1/3 cup Kosher salt
- 2 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
- 1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
Directions
- Wash cucumbers. Cut off and discard ends. Cut pickles into desired size and shape. For these pickles, I prefer 1/4-inch slices.
- Layer cucumbers and onions in gallon jar. Don’t worry if you don’t have enough to fill it all the way.
- Combine sugar, salt, and vinegars in medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar and salt dissolve and mixture clarifies somewhat.
- Remove from heat and stir in spices.
- Pour hot liquid over cucumbers and onions to cover. Push cucumbers down into liquid as much as possible
- Cover and refrigerate.
The pickles will be ready to eat in about 24 hours (although we always start into them sooner than that) and will keep in the refrigerator indefinitely. In our house they’re always gone within a few weeks, and the last ones are as good as the first.
As I said, I might tinker with the recipe by trying different vinegars. For the next batch, I think I’m going to substitute rice wine vinegar for some or all of the apple cider vinegar. I’ll let you know how it works out.