With some things growing full tilt in the vegetable garden at the moment, I am on regular pickling duty. It’s not yet time for lots of chutneys, but every week a few batches of dill pickled cucumbers, pickled chillies and peppers are being made up.
These types of pickles really are the easiest to create. It’s just a matter of picking things, cleaning them up, packing into sterilised canning jars, topping with brine vinegar and waiting for them to be ready.
To keep things really convenient, I make up one large batch of brine vinegar. Then I can quickly preserve the veggies as they’re ready. So, here’s the brine vinegar recipe I use.
Brine Recipe for Brine Cured Pickles
Firstly, let me confess, this isn’t some recipe I created. It is included in Foods of the Lebanon
- 4 pints water
- 1 1/4 pints of white wine or distilled malt vinegar
- 6 tbsp salt
- Spices/herbs of choice
Okay, mix all the above together in a clean glass jar. Add some additional flavorings if the mood takes you. I always throw in some whole peeled garlic cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves and a few dried chillies.
This is brilliant for pickled cucumbers, peppers and chillies.
This should be enough vinegar brine for around 4 lb of vegetables. Of course you can increase the proportion of vinegar to make your pickles more sour, but keep the level of salt to liquid at least as included here. Simple huh?
For a more self sufficient future
I like this recipe, it is similar to one we have used. The only thing we add are a couple of grape leaves, seems to aid in keeping the pickles firmer. Enjoy the summer!
Mike