4cups(960 ml) distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)
2 cups (400 g) sugar
¼cup (4 tablespoons/70 g) pickling salt or fine sea salt
1tablespoonwhole mustard seeds
1½teaspoonsturmeric
4lbs(1.8 kg) fresh cucumbers(about 4 litres/1 gallon sliced)
3mediumonions, sliced
Instructions
Combine the vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard seeds, and turmeric in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to lukewarm.
While the brine is cooling, wash and trim the ends from the cucumbers. Slice them into ¼-inch thick slices with a sharp knife or a krinkle cutter. Peel the onions and cut them in half through the root end. Cut each half into thin half-moon slices.
Put half the cucumber slices into a plastic 4-litre (1-gallon) sized empty ice cream pail, a large bowl, or a glass 1-gallon jar. Add the sliced onions, then the rest of the cucumber slices.
Pour the cooled brine over the cucumbers - it will not quite cover them. Toss the cucumbers carefully to make sure all the top ones get coated in the brine. Leave them to stand for half an hour to soften and release some of their juices. Then you can push the top cucumber slices down with a spatula or wooden spoon so they are submerged in the brine. Cover the pail, bowl, or jar with a lid or plastic wrap and set it into the refrigerator to chill. Stir the pickles once a day for 3 days, making sure they are all submerged under the brine again after stirring.
Transfer the pickles to quart jars or other smaller jars if you used a bowl (or leave them in the gallon container or ice cream pail). Divide the brine evenly among the jars and discard any remaining brine. The pickles are now ready to be eaten, but they will continue to improve over the next week.
Bread and butter pickles will keep, refrigerated, for up to 6 months (even a year, although their quality may deteriorate somewhat and they may get softer after the first 6 months).
Makes 3 quarts/litres of bread & butter pickles.
Notes
This is a less-sweet version of bread & butter pickles. Depending on how sweet you like your bread & butter pickles, you can increase the amount of sugar up to 4 cups (800 g), as in the classic old-fashioned bread & butter pickles (or to make them taste like store-bought sweet pickles).