Bread-and-Butter Pickles Recipe (2024)

A long-overdue PS/question (easy as these are, I don't make 'em often): Why pour the hot pickling liquid over the cukes in a bowl to cool and then jar 'em? Simply put the sliced cukes in your jar of choice, pour on the liquid, and let cool, cover tightly, and into fridge.

I'd suggest upping the brine ingredients slightly, it wasn't quite enough for the 1 lb of cucumbers.

The results remind me of "Fanning's Bread and Butter Pickles," now impossible to find except online. They DO keep forever (if you don't gobble 'em, of course!), and the microwave method below works perfectly!

This is a great recipe that easily accommodates add-ons such as garlic, onions, peppers, carrots, celery seed, or turmeric.Try other vinegars to create varying flavor profiles. I did not pre-salt the cucs. I cleaned & soaked the uncut cucs overnight in cold water, in the fridge. This rehydrates, firms & crisps the cucs and you won't miss the salt at all.Note: Quadruple the brine recipe because it is best to have the majority of the pickles submerged in the brine.

Don't worry that you won't have enough brine; the cucumbers release more of their liquid into it during the process. When you are ready to pack use a slotted or perforated spoon to transfer the pickles into the jar first. Pack them in as tight as you can, and then add the brine. It works great. As far as shelf life, I have stored them in the fridge for 6 months or more, as you would a naturally fermented pickle.This is my family's favorite pickle.

I had a half pound of cucumbers, which fit into a pint jar, and the brine covered only a little more than half the cucumbers. It's clearly not enough brine, in my opinion. I think the vegetables all should be submerged in in the jar. For a bit of color, I included a pinch of turmeric to the brine, and used some dill seeds in the brine as I had no fresh dill.

Also, salting this way helps the cucumber to stay crisp after you put them into their brine.

Good recipe. Be sure to cut stem ends off cucumbers and discard them before adding the bribe. They contain enzymes that will allow cucumber to soften over time and will result in less crispness in pickles.

For folks wanting to know how long these last: I just found a jar I made 09/01/2016 that was hiding in the back of my fridge. They are only a little darker than when I first made them but still delicious and crunchy. Your results may vary.

Good flavors, but way too little brine----there is no way only 1/3 cup liquid(the vinegar) would cover even half the cucumbers. Melissa Clark's recipes are usually wonderful and accurate, so I wonder if this was an error in printing. I doubled the brine ingredients and added some water.
Also--regarding how long the pickles keep in the refrigerator---the recipe says refrigerate up to one week, but in the comments, Melissa says that she was eating them a month after making them.

Heh, heh. Get a single habanero or Scotch bonnet pepper, wash, seed, and slice into quarters, and add it to the jar last. Let it sit a day or two in the fridge. Then choose your audience of diners carefully.

I agree with the comments on there not being enough brine for 1 lb cucumbers. I would double or triple the amount if I made this again.

Used Persian cucumbers, and while tasty, not quite crunchy-crispy enough.

Suggested: triple liquid

Made by-the-book and they were delicious. A few notes. 1: Definitely not enough brine. Should be ½ cup vinegar minimum, maybe more. 2: Skip the pointless tossing in a bowl for 30 minutes. I did ½ that way and ½ went directly into a jar. Results for both were exactly the same.Also, editors, please try harder. “Refrigerate for up to 1 week” is meaningless as it implies they will expire after 7 days, which is obviously not true; the description says “and a month later mine still crunch…”

Yummy! As noted in a previous comment the recipe doesn't call for enough brine to cover the cucumbers. Suggestion: at least double, if not triple the brine.

I'd have to say these are about the best pickles I've ever had. So tasty, and they look so pretty with the various seeds and fresh dill. So nice to bring as a side dish for a BBQ or picnic! And super easy to make!

Made these yesterday. Way too salty, had to throw them out (and I had rinsed the pickles). I read back in the comments and saw this was a common issue. Made again today using 1 Tsp vs the 2 Tbsp as written - they are great. Just cut way back on the salt and enjoy!

Doesn't make enough brine. Need to double the liquid at least.

Can someone clarify why the instructions say to store in the fridge for up to one week, but comments (and Melissa Clark's header) say it lasts upwards of a month or more? Is it a safety thing, or a 'most fresh by' guideline?

For 2 lbs of cucumbers, I used 2/3 cup cider vinegar and 1/3 cup water. Doubled sugar but kept spices the same.

First off, be sure and rinse the pickles after salt brine in step 1 - I simply drained them the first time I made this and had some very salty pickles. Also, as the boxes of kirby cukes I get from my farmers market are 2 lbs I doubled everything and the amount of brine is then about right.

Process the pickles in a hot water bath in sterile jars and the pickles will keep for over a year in your cabinet. Always remove the rings from the jars and turn the jars upside down for storage. Storing them upside down allows the most "pickled" of the cucumber slices to be on top when you open the jar and the slices in the bottom of the jar will continue to pickle while you are consuming the pickles.

Are the cucumbers rinsed after the two hours' salting? Mine came out decidedly salty, and though I salt everything, these were too salty.

Tastes great! I made more brine without upping the salt. I'm wondering if folks whose pickles were salty didn't use kosher salt. That would do it.

I like to make a lot of brine, and then use it to flavor commercial co*cktail onions. Yum.

Do the jars have to be boiled? Can this recipe be used for the shelf if the jars are boiled?

Sharing my ignorance here but what exactly is a Kirby cucumber? Is it what, we here in Canada, call an English cucumber?

I sliced about 1-1/4 pounds of cukes and it still didn't fill the quart jar, plus I made twice the amount of vinegar/sugar/spice liquid and it wasn't enough for the quart jar. Maybe this recipe should be for a pint jar?