Sometimes I think that we have forgotten how joyful eating is. With all the food rules imposed on us, we have lost the ability to feel the pure pleasure and joy of cooking and eating. Recipes that bring back memories of loved ones can help you bring back that pleasure. The memories that come back to me when I make my grandfather's Homemade German pickles -Senfgurken is truly special.
My first memories of helping in the kitchen are baking brownies or cookies with my mom. I don't consider myself a baker now. Many of our family recipes do not revolve around baking, so I did struggle with figuring out what to share this month. After eating some of my recent batch of pickles I realized that my grandfather's Senfgurken (or German Pickle) recipe was perfect.
Senfgurken is a German pickle that uses mustard, dill, and possibly other spices. These particular pickles are peeled before they are placed in the pickling brine. These pickles are basically refrigerator dill pickles. There are also commonly called mustard pickles.
I never made the pickles with him, but we all have his recipe and use it every summer. We were swimming in cucumbers from our garden this year and I needed to do something with them before our vacation in August, so I made a huge batch of pickles before we left. This year is the first in probably 17 years that I made them. My husband has been the pickle chef all these years. I had to ask him a few questions, which felt wrong since this is my Pop-pop's recipe!
My grandfather was so happy when Scott took an interest in his pickles and made a batch himself. Scott was given Pop-pop's giant glass jar that he used when he made large batches. Scott became the pickle chef when the pickle jar was passed to him.
This recipe takes a few days to work through. I took a picture of each step, so don't freak out because you have to scroll down further for the recipe.
How to make Homemade German Pickles
Stage I: Prep
The smallest batch calls for 4 cucumbers. We have made batches of more than 20 cucumbers before. You don't need pickling cucumbers. We use regular cucumbers. The bigger the better.
Start by peeling off the skin. Remember Senfgurken are peeled. After you peel the cucumbers slice them into four chunks. I cut them in half in the center and then cut each half in half again lengthwise.
The seeds are removed. The best way is to use a spoon to just scoop them out. This task can get a bit messy. My daughter and I had some seeds that ended up on the floor and on our clothes. You can see I have a garbage bowl to put the seed into, but they still get away from you.
Each cucumber section is then cut into smaller strips (about a ¼-1/2 inch thick). You should get four slices per section.
Layer the cucumber slices into the bottom of a large pot. Salt each layer before starting a new one. The purpose of salting is to draw water out of the cucumbers.
To increase the release of water we add a plate and some sort of weight on top of the cucumbers. My grandfather used a brick on top of a plate if I can remember correctly.
I don't have a spare brick laying around. The heaviest item I can find that would fit in my pot is my small Le Creuset pot. Grandpa's directions say to place your pot of cucumbers into the refrigerator for 24 hours. We prefer 48 hours. The longer time frame allows more water to be excreted.
Stage 2: Pickling
When you are ready to pickle the cucumbers drain the extracted water from the pot. The cucumbers will need to be dried off by placing them onto paper towels. Pat the cucumbers dry with an additional towel.
Our Senfgurken recipe uses only mustard seed, dill, and onion to flavor the pickles. Some recipes may use prepared mustard and/or pickling spices.
Filling the Jars
First, place onion in the bottom of your jar. I divide the onion slices evenly among my jars. You may not use all the onion that is sliced, but better to have extra.
Place cucumber slices in the jars leaving some wiggle room.
Add 1 teaspoon of mustard seed.
Add a few sprigs of fresh dill.
The hot pickling liquid is added last and divided among the jars. Let the jars cool down before adding the lids and transferring the jars to the refrigerator. The pickles will keep in the refrigerator for a while. We have found jars that were a year old and the pickles were still good. The only time we have pickles that long is after we made a huge batch.
Tips to make pickles:
- You don't need to use pint jars. You can use any size jar you have. We used to use old spaghetti sauce jars!
- Extra salt is needed beyond the 4 ½ tsp. The 4 ½ tsp is for the brine. When you prep the cucumbers you are layering them into a pot in order to extract the excess water in the cucumbers. To do this we have to salt the cucumbers. We salt each layer. I just sprinkle the salt, so it's hard to measure exactly.
- You don't have to place the ingredients in any particular order. Sometimes I add the mustard seed first to the jars, then add the cucumbers, onion, and dill.
- Let the jars cool completely before placing the pickles into the refrigerator.
Ingredients
- 4 large cucumbers
- 2 ½ cups water
- 2 ½ cups vinegar I use white vinegar
- 4 ½ teaspoons salt for brine
- 4 ½ teaspoons sugar additional is used in the first step
- Mustard seed - 1 tsp per jar
- Fresh dill - 2-3 sprig per jar
- 1 small onion sliced
- 4 mason jars
Instructions
- Peel cucumbers and remove seeds with a spoon.
- Cut cucumbers into ¼-1/2 inch strips.
- Layer cucumber slices in a large pot.
- Sprinkle salt over each layer.
- Cover with a plate and something heavy for weight.
- Refrigerate 24-48 hours.
- When ready to pickle, pour off water, dry with a paper towel.
- Pack into 1-pint jars onion, cucumber, mustard seed, and dill.
- Juice: bring water, vinegar, salt and sugar to a boil.
- Pour hot juice into packed jars.
- Let jar cool completely and then place into refrigerator.
- Can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 months.
Notes
- You don't need to use pint jars. You can use any size jar you have. We used to use old spaghetti sauce jars!
- Extra salt is needed beyond the 4 ½ tsp. The 4 ½ tsp is for the brine. When you prep the cucumbers you are layering them into a pot in order to extract the excess water in the cucumbers. To do this we have to salt the cucumbers. We salt each layer. I just sprinkle the salt, so it's hard to measure exactly.
- You don't have to place the ingredients in any particular order. Sometimes I add the mustard seed first to the jars, then add the cucumbers, onion, and dill.
- Let the jars cool completely before placing the pickles into the refrigerator.
Nutrition
These pickles are perfect with sandwiches and burgers:
What a great story you shared! I shared a german recipe too this month! Yay for germans 🙂
I'm off to get the ingredients now for these pickles...they look delicious and seem much simpler than some other pickle recipes I've tried. Plus we still are up to ears in cucumbers from our garden!
I love homemade pickles - these look great!
These look amazing! Great photos of the process too. I usually use storebought dill pickles in my German Rouladen but I think I may try to DIY it next time. Thanks for the tips. http://oldworldtaste.com/germanrouladen/
The way you cut these was so interesting! I guess it is similar to spears, but I thought it looked even better. Your pictures do a great job of showing every step of the process. Its going to make it super easy for me to follow the recipe. Thank you for sharing! Can't wait to try it at home.
Can you hot water bath can these so you don't have to keep them in the fridge?
I don't see why not. I have never canned anything so I don't know for sure.
I made 5 jars tonight, can't wait to try them, how many days before I can eat them?
You should be able to eat them after a day or two.
I was just looking at a bottle of these on a gourmet website and wondering if I could make them myself, so thanks for this. One tip, when you're deseeding the cucumbers, you don't need to scoop the seeds. Just get the spoon under the seeds at one end and, supporting the cuke with the palm of your other hand, run it down the middle and the seeds are just plowed right out i8n front of it -- no muss, no fuss, as they say. I noticed the "scoop marks" on yours, and doing it in one long sweep yields a much more attractive pickle spear. 😉
My grandmother was German and a great cook, canned a lot, but I don't remember her ever making pickles. For some reason, we always bought ours. But, then again, grandma never bought bread, so we were not deprived.
Thanks so much for your comment! My grandfather's pickles always had "scoop marks", so I don't mind if they aren't so attractive. They remind me of him 🙂
4 1/2 teaspoons of sugar didn't taste right. Looked at some similar recipes and then kicked it up to about 2 cups of sugar. That was about right.
Thanks for reaching out. This is my grandfather's exact recipe. He did not make a sweet pickle. The pickle is supposed to be on the sour side. Recipes will vary depending on the taste of the recipe developer. You can adjust the ingredients to your liking, however, less sugar is how my family has enjoyed this recipe for decades.
What would happen if I let the brine cool and then pour it over the cukes . Would that be safe.
Would it make them a little crunchier.
I’m new to this pickling thing so I want to be safe.
I don't really know to be honest. I think it would be safe. The cucumber may or not be crunchier. The longer they sit in the brine the softer they will get.
Are these similar in flavor German Barrel pickles available in German groceries and World Market?
I have never tried the pickles at the German grocery or World Market.
Can these be canned?
I have never canned, so I don't know if the recipe would have to be altered.
Would it be alright to add some sliced garlic to the dill, mustard seeds, and onion slices?
You can alter the recipe however you wish. I'm not sure how a slice of garlic would add to the taste.
How many jars did this recipe make? Quart or Pint?
My Mother made Senfgurken spears so I'd like to try your recipe. Does the liquid just get poured off after pressing or do cukes get rinsed to remove salt?
We just pour off the liquid.
What size jars are you referring to in the recipe, pint or half pint?
I love the recipe.
I use pint, but honestly, when my grandfather was alive we used any empty jars we could find like big tomato sauce jars!
Is the 4 1/2 tsp of salt for the brine or for sprinkling over the slices to extract the water?
The 4 1/2 is for the brine. It's difficult to measure the salt that is used to extract the water in the cucumbers. The salt that is sprinkled over each layer is extra.
I pressed the cucumber spears for 2 days like you mentioned. Some were still firm but others were very floppy. I used a glass baking dish + a gallon jug of water so maybe about 10 lbs. Is that too much weight?
I also layered them in a cross-cross fashion & could see the marks from where the pickles were pressing on each other. Any particular layering strategy you use?
Anyway I put them all in a half gallon mason jar. Seems like a lot of mustard, but still excited to try them.
This is the closest recipe I could find to something one of my mom’s friends would make called “banana pickles.” I think they were a bit sweeter than this recipe, but I already eat enough sweets..
There is no particular way to stack them. As far as weight I never measured. I use a heavy pot, which likely isn't 10 pounds. My grandfather used a brick! The cucumber slices will be different textures. Some may be firm others softer. The longer the cucumber slices sit in the brine the softer they will be. They are not super crunchy pickles for sure.