Yum yum pickles

Quick and easy recipe for yum yum pickles with sweet dill pickle liquid. These delicious pickles are ready to eat straightaway, but they get even better with time.

There is no need for complicated preserving or canning process, although you can make a large batch, preserve them in a water bath and keep them for up to 12 months. Perfect to make if you want a small batch or just something different as gift for your friends.

Because we will be using a cold pickling method for this recipe, the cucumbers will retain their wonderful crunch and the pickle will be nice and light.

You can serve these homemade yum yum pickles with a ploughman’s lunch and freshly baked rye bread, sandwiches, cold meats, pates or homemade soft cottage cheese and buckwheat crackers.

Few notes for making yum yum pickles

The pickling liquid recipe

Everyone has a different taste. I prefer sweet and sour taste with these cucumbers, but some people prefer them more salty. My grandad would probably made the recipe a bit different every time, because it just depended on what he had at hand and also what type of cucumbers he used.

What type of cucumbers to use

Generally speaking you want to use small to medium cucumbers (that have less water in them) for this recipe. If you have small gherkins, it’s best to pickle them whole.

Preserving

The beauty of this recipe is that you don’t need to preserve the yum yum pickles, unless you make a huge batch and you couldn’t use them within their normal shelf life (about 6 months).

I’ve used the cold preserving method in this recipe, but if you want to you could preserve them further in a hot water bath (or pressure cooker) and extend their shelf life to 1-2 years.

Sterilising jars

No matter what method you use, always make sure that your jars are clean and sterilised. This prevents bacteria developing inside your pickles.

To sterilise your jars (and lids) wash them either in a dishwasher on a very hot cycle or wash them by hand and then put in the oven on 100 C for about 10 minutes. This is enough to kill any unwanted bacteria and sterilise your glass jars.

Any type of jam jar or traditional mason jar is suitable for yum yum pickles, but I prefer to use a bigger jars for vegetable pickling as it’s a little bit easier and definitely less work.

Ingredients variations

The pickling liquid can be made with different spices, vegetables and different proportions of sugar and salt to give you slightly different flavour.

Turmeric

A pinch of turmeric will give the whole mixture extra yellow colour and a bit of spicy flavour.

Mustard Seeds

My grandad always added these, although you never actually eat them afterwards. Extra flavour!

Ground Cloves

A large pinch of ground cloves add a sweet spiciness to the pickling liquid.

Celery Seeds

1-3 teaspoons of celery seeds add extra vegetables and spice flavour. Be careful as some people are allergic to celery.

Green or red peppers

Extra vegetables, crunch and they look pretty!

If you are short of time you can also buy ready-made pickling spices or liquids.

How to make yum yum pickles

Wash and clean the cucumbers first. Then slice them into 3-4 mm thickness (pound coin thickness) with a sharp knife or a vegetable slicer mandoline (to get the nice ridges).

Peel and slice the onion thinly.

In a plastic (or glass) bowl mix the cucumbers, onion, dill, mustard seeds and pepper.

In a measuring jug mix together the sugar, salt and the vinegar and stir until the sugar has dissolved.

Pour over the cucumber mix and leave for a minimum of 4 hrs (but better over night 10-12 hrs.)

When you are ready, pour everything into a large jar (or two smaller ones), seal with lid and store in the fridge for up to 2-3 weeks.

The pickles are ready to be eaten straightaway, but their flavour will improve with time.

Other recipes to inspire you

• Pumpkin Butter made from fresh pumpkins >>
• Sweet Dill Gherkins Pickle (the cold pickling method) >>
• Homemade Applesauce >>