Pickling Cucumbers the Traditional Way
Use clean 3-liter jars. Add spices to the bottom: finely chopped dill, tarragon, and black currant leaves—just enough to cover the base. Don’t worry about cucumber size as long as they fit in the jars. Wash the cucumbers, then layer them in the jars, putting larger ones at the bottom and smaller ones on top. Add another layer of spices—dill, tarragon, and black currant leaves—on top of the cucumbers.
Prepare the brine next: use a bucket of well water (about 3 gallons), add 600 grams of salt, stir until the salt dissolves, and let it sit for about 3 to 4 hours to make sure the salt is fully dissolved. Dissolve the salt in an enameled bucket; don’t use a zinc bucket. An enameled pot works as well.
Fill the jars with brine to the top, seal them with nylon lids, and take them down to the cellar. They turn out the same as barrel pickles, without any hot processing.
