Recipes

This Quick Brine Can Get You Out Of A Summer Pickle

Too many cucumbers? This recipe is a quick and simple way to preserve your late summer bumper crop.

If you planted cucumbers in your vegetable garden this summer, you might find yourself in something of a pickle right now.

When cucumber vines are well established and getting plenty of heat and moisture, they can produce an unwieldy number of cukes in a short period of time. With heat and humidity hitting their peak around the country, you know what I mean.

My own garden has been producing so many cucumbers that I can’t possibly eat enough salads to keep up with them.

On the other, I never seem to have enough time for making traditional pickles. The long, arduous set-up of lacto fermentation and self-stable canning techniques are always at the bottom of the to-do list.

That’s why I prefer quick pickles that I keep in the refrigerator. When mixed with a vinegar-based brine, a quick pickle is ready in a couple of days and stays good in the refrigerator much longer than it takes me to eat two jars.

(MORE: Try A Late Summer Ratatouille With Your Garden Vegetables)

Over the years, I’ve used a lot of different recipes to make quick pickles. There are some excellent options in Edward Lee’s classic cookbook Smoke and Pickles. If you read Kevin West’s Saving the Season, you’ll certainly come away with a deeper understanding how and why to preserve almost anything.

What I’ve settled on is a simple base recipe of vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and whole black peppercorns. Sometimes I add herbs or garlic or onions, depending on what I have on hand. But this basic brine is what I turn to first when my counters are covered with cucumbers and I need to do something with them, quick.

Ingredients

1 ½ cups distilled white vinegar

1 ½ cups warm water

¼ cup sugar

2 tbs kosher salt

2 tbs black peppercorns

Instructions

Dissolve sugar and salt in warm water with black peppercorns. Add room temperature white vinegar. When fully cooled, pour over jars filled with sliced cucumbers.

Refrigerate.