Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Bread & Butter Pickles – One of the Great Depression’s Greatest Hits

During the Great Depression, sandwiches weren’t quite what they are today. Forget about choice of aioli, or did you want roast tri tip or smoked turkey; back then it was more like, “Did you want cucumbers in your sandwich, or nothing in your sandwich?” Okay, cucumbers it is.

At the end of summer, the excess "cuc" crop was sliced, salted, pickled, and put up in jars for the cold, lean months ahead. If you thought summer Depression-era sandwiches sucked, it was much worse in winter, when you couldn’t even find a bland vegetable to slap between your slices of buttered bread.

I can just imagine what a treat it must have been to fill a sandwich with these sweet crunchy coins, or "bread and butter pickles," as they came to be known. I’m sure it was a wonderful break from what must have been a fairly flavorless existence. Happily, times are a bit better now, and we only make these because they taste really good.

So, make a batch, experience a little piece of American culinary history, and as you’re tossing them on that burger, think back to what those days must have been like. I mean, especially with no YouTube! I hope you give these bread & butter pickles  a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for about 2 pints:
2 lbs pickling or other firm, little cucumbers
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
2 red jalapeno pepper, sliced
3 tbsp kosher salt
2 cups sugar
2 cups white distilled vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 tsp black peppercorns
2 cloves garlic, sliced

61 comments:

Unknown said...

Weirdly enough, although I don't particularly love cucumbers, and as an Italian I find butter + raw veg a weird combination, I LOVE a simple cucumber sandwich. I don't know why but it is delicious. But this seems amazing - exactly the kind of pickle I love.

Julie said...

The garlic isn't in the list of ingredients. Is it just one clove?

Unknown said...

You're not going to like me for this but are the jalepeno chillis necessary

philogaia said...

I used to make these every single year. My mother also made them. I grew up on them. Not sure what my grandmother thought (her being the depression era ancestor.)

A couple of years ago I was into the heat of my affair with lacto-fermenting everything. I tried to do the same with the BnBs. Ummm. Not my finest experiment. I think all the sugar gets eaten up by the bacteria and seems to soften the pickles too much. Last year I didn't do any at all.

You have inspired me. I do love these pickles and like so many recipes of this kind they just don't taste the same store-bought.

Chef John said...

Oli, for me yes, for you, I'm not sure!

Julie, just added! 2 cloves.

Rob D said...

Hey Chef John can't wait to try these, but did your grill break ? It's been almost 2 months since your last grill post and I'm dying over here to try another one of your fantastic BBQ recipes.

Unknown said...

Hey!

I am not too kin on the sweeter pickles. Am I able to use half of it, or is it an integral part for this process to work?

Thanks for all the amazing recipes o/

Bear said...

I love canning -- I must try these!

Two questions: how many quarts does this particular recipe yield?

And, is there a variation for pickles that would end up less sweet?

Josh said...

That brine would work good for pickled eggs too. 3/4 less sugar though. Some of the simplest things are some of the best tasting.

Josh said...

Oh, I wanted to ask you Chef. Since these pickles are going to be in the fridge, is it necessary to sterilize the mason jars I am going to use or would soap and water followed by a rinse be sufficient? Thanks.

philogaia said...

Ricardo, I'm not a sweet pickle person either. These are lightly sweet but yes, you certainly can cut down on the sugar. Actually I do. It will make them sharper which suits me well. You probably do want to put some sugar in. This is kind of a sweet sour sort of flavor. You would lose the breadth of flavor without some sugar (and this coming from a person who is on a very low sugar diet.)

philogaia said...

Ricardo, I'm not a sweet pickle person either. These are lightly sweet but yes, you certainly can cut down on the sugar. Actually I do. It will make them sharper which suits me well. You probably do want to put some sugar in. This is kind of a sweet sour sort of flavor. You would lose the breadth of flavor without some sugar (and this coming from a person who is on a very low sugar diet.)

Chef John said...

Yes, what he said! :)

Roz said...

I made these last night, my first attempt to make pickles. They are deliciously wonderful. Thanks again for another recipe that turned out perfectly. One note, it made more than you said, maybe because I added four hot (but not jalapeño) long yellow peppers. Mine made 3 1/2 pints. My thinking is that the peppers will be good as a condiment.

Chef John said...

Just soap and water is fine! Enjoy!

GRTC Event Site said...

If I were to make home made giardiniera vegetables (for Italian beef sandwiches) with the pickling technique, would you foresee any problems? I'd be using more heat then your bread & butter ensemble.

KAJ said...

Out of curiosity, we ate bread and butter pickle sandwiches today for lunch. They were delicious. And they also made us feel like we were experiencing a part of American history. Thanks for the idea. Good recipe! Works decent with not so tender-skinned cucumbers too. Mine were bitter and very thick skinned, but still made delicious crunchy pickles!

rain.drop said...

Chef John, these pickles, mmmmmmmh.... they're just amazing! So crunchy and so delicious! Thank you for the recipe. Luckily, the Great Depression era is (hopefully forever) gone, but we still can enjoy the great pickles - and they're a part of history too.
P.S. I did not have celery seeds. I went for one celery stalk instead. Yum!

Unknown said...

Chef John, this is so far the best best best pickle I ever had in my life. After the first batch, I ran to Canadian Tire and bought a dozen big jars to make more!!

Me said...

So I just made these last night. They were pretty darn good. I found I could really taste the peppercorns, a bit too much so next time I'm going to reduce that a bit but otherwise it's pretty awesome!

Ruslan said...

Great recipe, thanks, I've tried it and it end up a terrific snack! Can you please advise how long it can be kept in a fridge (i.e. without hot-bath canning)?

Unknown said...

The pickles were great lost a pint to a family picnic. The brine seemed too good to throw away so I'm trying a trick I learned from my mother I added two cans of sliced beets to the brine after the pickles were gone hopefully in a week or two I'll have a nice retread. Thanks for a great receipe.

Nancy said...

Hi Chef John, I live in Costa Rica and I can't find any other salt that's not iodized table salt or sea salt, could i still make these maybe with just less salt?

Chef John said...

Sea salt will work! Salt is basically salt in this recipe. They all taste the same.

Mohamad Alaaelden said...

is there a substitute for ciliary seeds

love cooking said...

You are such a great chef. Thanks for sharing wonderful recipes.

Unknown said...

Closest to my Grandma's recipe. She added raisins to her pickles and they are delish with that little bit of sweetness.

Leibe said...

My Grandma made these every year and I love them. She would put part of a cinnamon stick in each jar which seemed to make them even better.

Unknown said...

I want to make these but I'm not sure for how long will they last, either if they are in the fridge or outside.

suayres said...

One of the beauties of pickles is their shelf life. If you want to keep them outside the fridge, you'll have to process them in a canning jar, sealed in an airtight fashion. You can find "how-to" videos on YouTube. If you keep them in the fridge, the canning process can be skipped--they'll keep for at least a month, probably a lot longer. I have some I made 3 months ago, & they're still good. Salt & vinegar are powerful preservatives.

Lili said...

Love this recipe. Just made two batches!
They look as good as they taste!
So pretty!

Thank you!

dnana said...

Chef, I hope you are still monitoring this thread. I made these pickles and we love them. The crunch, sweetness, and tartness is exactly right for us! Do you have a recipe for dill pickles made this way or can you suggest how to modify this recipe for dill? We have many cucumbers every year and I hate water-bath canning! This recipe is easy enough that I can make a batch in an evening, I love it! Thanks!!

dnana said...

Hello, nevermind, I found a bunch of the refridge dill pickle recipes on allrecipes.com, trying one now, thanks for your great videos!

Guilherme said...


So if the bottle is sterilized and sealed can store out of the refrigerator?

Unknown said...

any alternative to celery & mustard seeds?

Unknown said...

any alternatiive to celery& mustard seed ?

Unknown said...

Sooooo doing this ... however I will be reducing the sugar ingredient to 1 cup this seems logical as I'm much too sweet as it is ... oh !! I will also try using the pickling Jus in my ceasar's ...

Singleot said...

These turned out wonderful, though I liked the second batch without the onions better. One caution, use a stainless spoon, the brine will stain anything else a bright yellow.

Unknown said...

I was bon on 8-20-1929.America went to hell.

People today have NO clue what we ate to survive then. They really do NOT want to know.

Unknown said...

I love your recipes but one thing that I noticed is there is no step by step directions nor is there a print function. I this something that can be added?
Thank You
bigfrank49

Unknown said...

Chef John, thank you for this recipe. Tried it and loved it.

Unknown said...

Hello Chef John,
Just made these pickles came out great.BTW played with the vinegar, tried all white, half apple half white and all apple, should of listen to you and use all white much better.
I was going to ask you what to do with leftover juice but tried something, took 3 slices of salmon and cooked for 20 minutes, tasted wasn't bad let it sit for 2-3 days and it absorbed the pickle flavor was much better.
Any other idea with juice?

Thank you

Nail said...

OH my Gosh!

Just made my 3rd batch since finding this recipe. I cut down the sugar to 1 1/4 cups because my husband doesn't like really sweet things and this made it perfect for him.

Thanks Chef John...they're terrific!!!

Barb R. said...

Have pickles in my garden and did this last year. Almost forgot about it! Will do it again this year. Next year, will be sure to grow the right pickles though. Have slicing cucumbers right now but they worked for this recipe last year so, will do it again this time just so that I have some!

bjr

Barb R. said...

Have a question Chef!
I used 27 pounds of Marketmore 76 variety cucumbers for this recipe. I did this yesterday! Shocking! Hard to believe I actually did this, but I did! I have a good deal of liquid from this batch left and harvested, just this morning, more of these same veggies. Can I use the liquid from yesterday to process these cucumbers or do I have to begin all over again? This would be an expensive proposition for me as am I am just about out of ingredients.

bjr

geneauger said...

What happened to the rest of the instructions on the bread and butter pickles it ended with ingredients???

seekinghope said...

Chef I just made your Bread and Butter Pickles and they are wonderful! Thank you so much for such an easy and fabulous recipe ❤️

Unknown said...

Just made these! They turned out great and were easy to make. Thanks!

Unknown said...

Amazingly easy! Taste great & am looking forward to sharing at Thanksgiving! Thanks for a great recipe!

Philip Ferrato said...

Great technique turned out flawless pickles! Of course, I made some changes in the ingredients, using mustard seed, coriander seed, celery see, star anise and bay leaves– and fresh turmeric, no chiles.

Because I am the Chris Pine of my Brine.

BTW, I've found that leftover pickle brine is really an infused vinegar by another mother. I strain is and keep it refrigerated, although I imagine you could pasteurize at 150∘. Great for salad dressing, or to brighten up a pot of beans. I've never tried pickle-brined chicken, but I do splash a little on grilled chicken thighs.

Unknown said...

Made the pickles. Packed them into the jar. Most of the pickling juice was left over. Could the remaining pickling juice be used for a second batch?
And the pickles are superb! Thank you for being you!!!

Nancy said...

Hi Chef John, could i can these pickles? At which step would I do that? I would assume the basic processing time is around 10 minutes similar to other recipes I've seen. Thanks!

Nancy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amethyst Samia said...

Oh for Dog’s sake people, they will last in the refrigerator until they are no longer good. They will last out of the refrigerator until they are no longer good. Don’t y’all check your food before you eat it? A simple sniff will tell you. Country girl here who uses common sense. Just sniff! And look! Mold? Not good. Smells bad? Not good. Tastes funny? Not good. Easy!

EarRe Feeling said...

Google sent me some ads for depression medication after this. Thanks to the pickles, my depression lifted. Don't need the pills now!

xantee said...

Chef John, I've been looking for the best bread & butter pickle recipe and a lot of them are not as good as yours. This is the best I tried so far. I harvest a lot of cucumbers and I have no idea what to do with them. I love Bread & Butter pickles and I tried your recipe and came out better than the store bought. Thank you for this recipe.

Philip Ferrato said...

I've made these with both Kirby and Persian cucumbers, and the Persians give the best results by far. They seem to be most easily available in supermarkets as cello-packed mini cucumbers, and are very expensive. I've been able to find larger Persians at local farm stands, and they're great. Kirby's are best for fermented or salt-cured pickles where they retain their snap.

Unknown said...

i jusy made these, they are good but the flavor is very intensive

robert said...

These were so good.

There are a handful of recipes I have that feel like cheat codes for life, where a small number of easily-sourced ingredients plus not a lot of work equals shockingly delicious food. This is one of those recipes now.

(Chef John, I've been watching your videos and making your stuff for a while now, and I've never had a non-tasty result - but this was the one that finally made me think, "Dang, it's about time I at least THANKED this dude for the work he does. So thank you!)

Katherina said...

Chef John if I wanted to water bath these what is the time frame for the water bath thanks so much

Katherina said...

Chef John if I chose to water bath these how long is the time For the water bath