Ingredients
For the brine:
- 1 cup purified water
- 1 cup distilled white vinegar
- 3/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon raw honey (local if possible)
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 heaping tablespoon natural picking spice (I use this one and LOVE it – so worth ordering online)
For the jar:
- 6–8 kirby cucumbers, sliced any way you’d like (small thin rounds or spears are both great)
- 3–6 pieces of the flowering part of the dill plant (this is mostly for aesthetics)
- About a tablespoon of fresh dill weed (that’s the green leafy part of the plant that tastes so good)
Instructions
Add all of the brine ingredients to a saucepan and turn on medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and stir just until the salt is dissolved and remove from the heat to prevent the liquid from reducing. Wash and prepare all produce. I use a handheld ceramic mandoline to thinly slice the cucumbers, if you do this be very careful with the mandoline. Wash your mason jar with very hot soapy water and dry it. Add the cucumbers and dill to the jar, adding a few dill flowers every few inches to make it look pretty. Fill the jar to about two and a half inches to the top. Pour the hot brine into the jar, covering the cucumbers and making sure you get all of the solid pickling spices into the jar. Leave about an inch and a half to two inches at the top (the cucumbers can give off water so they need room to expand). Careful here, the jar will be HOT-use a towel to seal the jar with a mason jar lid, and shake the jar to combine. Put in the refrigerator for at least
Notes
- If you don’t have or can’t find any pickling spice, add 1/2 tablespoon whole peppercorns and extra fresh dill weed. If you can use a high-quality, natural pickling spice I HIGHLY recommend it, just skip anything that contains unnatural ingredients or preservatives.
- My pickling spice has a tiny bit of heat, if you want more kick add a few pinches of red pepper flakes to the brine. Mine is also salt-free, so be careful of how much salt you use if you use a different one.
- You can also use all distilled white vinegar or any other type of vinegar, I just like the taste of the combo above.