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    Home » In the kitchen » Bottled Gherkins (Homemade Dill Pickles)

    Bottled Gherkins (Homemade Dill Pickles)

    Published: Nov 9, 2015 · Modified: Apr 20, 2024 by Laura · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    A simple to follow tutorial for how to make your own bottled gherkins! Make the most of that summer harvest and enjoy homemade dill pickles all year round!

    Update January 2024: I now exclusively use the water bath method for canning/bottling everything as an extra layer of food safety. I have never had any problems bottling them this way but now prefer the water bath method in terms of ease and having a higher success rate with jars sealing. To water bath these pickles, I leave ½ inch headspace at the top of the jar before placing the lid on and processing in a water bath canner for 5 minutes. Laura

    Homemade crunchy, tangy bottled gherkins

    In my experience, there is no fence sitting in the gherkin debate. You either love them or hate them. While Josh falls very firmly into the haters category I am a 'can't get enough - eat them whole out of the jar - put them with everything' - true gherkin lover! So of course when I found out I could grow them and pickle my own it had to be done.

    A couple of years ago I tried. I bought 1 gherkin plant and planted it in a spot that just happened to miss the part of the garden that was watered. I ended up with a very sad looking plant and about 3 gherkins to show for my efforts. Fail.

    This year I planned ahead. I planted 8 seeds, reserved a spot up a trellis smack bang in the middle of our big vege garden and ended up with a gherkin forest and kilos of gherkins from 8 epic plants!

    I spent ages on the internet trying to find a recipe to pickle gherkins and in the end gave up. They had long lists of ingredients and some of them even said to brine the gherkins for 7 days. 7  DAYS!! I don't know about you but when I'm pickling stuff I don't have 7 days to wait. I also don't have the bench space to leave a tub of brining pickles sitting around for 7 days. So I made up a recipe. I still brined (is that even a word) the gherkins, but only for a few hours. Much more like it!

    I made a couple of different batches of gherkins as I didn't know how they would turn out. In some I added pickling spice and some I left plain. I wasn't sure about the flavour of the pickling spice to begin with, but it definitely grew on me and after eating some of the plain gherkins, I decided that I prefered the ones with the spice - they are a little different than the ones you buy but I think the spice added something special.

    It's a bit of a long process so if you know what you're doing feel free to skip to the recipe, otherwise here are the step-by-step instructions.

    Wash the gherkins, rub off the spiky bits and pat them dry with a paper towel. Trim the gherkins at both ends, put in a clean bowl, sprinkle them with salt (not iodised) and store in a cool place until the salt has liquidized.

    Homemade crunchy, tangy bottled gherkins
    Homemade crunchy, tangy bottled gherkins

    When you're just about ready to go, make up your bottling liquid. Just add water and vinegar to a large pot and bring it to the boil.

    Rinse the gherkins with boiling water, drain and then rinse again.

    Pack the gherkins into hot jars that have been sterilized. To sterilise the jars I run them through the dishwasher. That way they are still hot when you go to use them. If you are only using a few jars though, wash them thoroughly and keep them filled with hot water until you are ready to use them. At this point I also added the pickling spice and fresh dill.

    Homemade crunchy, tangy bottled gherkins

    Fill the jars almost to the top with the water/vinegar liquid and run a knife around inside the jar to get rid of any air bubbles. Top up the jar with liquid until it is just overflowing and using a cloth (as the jars will be very hot) tightly screw on the lids.

    If using the water bath method, fill the jar leaving ½ inch headspace at the top of the jar before placing on the lid. Process in a water bath for 5 minutes.

    Homemade crunchy, tangy bottled gherkins
    Homemade crunchy, tangy bottled gherkins

    Wipe down the jars and leave to cool on the bench.

    Leave the jars for a couple of weeks to pickle away and put them in the fridge to cool down before opening. These are best eaten on a burger, on crackers, in a sandwich or just straight out of the jar. YUM!

    Homemade crunchy, tangy bottled gherkins
    Homemade crunchy, tangy bottled gherkins

    [mc4wp_form]

    Bottled Gherkins

    A simple to follow tutorial for how to make your own bottled gherkins! Make the most of that summer harvest and enjoy homemade dill pickles all year round!
    4.86 from 35 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Prep Time: 3 hours hours
    Resting time: 4 hours hours
    Total Time: 3 hours hours
    Servings: 5 jars
    Author: Laura

    Ingredients

    • 1 kg gherkins
    • ¼ cup plain salt not iodised
    • 2 cups white vinegar
    • 2 cups water
    • Pickling spice (about 1 teaspoon per jar)
    • Fresh dill (a couple of sprigs per jar)

    Instructions

    • Wash, pat dry and trim the gherkins at both ends, then place them in a large clean bowl, sprinkle on the salt and store in a cool place until the salt has liquidized (a few hours)
    • When you are ready to go, bring to the boil the water and vinegar.
    • Rinse the gherkins with boiling water, drain and then rinse again. Put the gherkins into hot jars that have been sterilized and add pickling spice and fresh dill.
    • Fill the jars almost to the top with the water/vinegar liquid and run a knife around inside the jar to get rid of any air bubbles. Top up the jar with liquid until it is just overflowing and using a cloth (as the jars will be very hot) tightly screw on the lids.
    • Wipe down the jars and leave to cool on the bench.
    • Gherkins will be ready in around three weeks. Put the jar in the fridge for a few hours to cool before eating.

    Notes

    To water bath process:
    1. Prepare gherkins as recipe states.
    2. Prepare a boiling water bath (see post on water bath preserving for more details)
    3. Instead of filling the jars to overflowing with the pickling liquid, leave ½ inch headspace before placing on the lid.
    4. Process in the water bath for 5 minutes, remove and allow to cool on the bench.
    5. Check seals after 24 hours.
    Nutrition Facts
    Bottled Gherkins
    Amount per Serving
    Calories
    40
    % Daily Value*
    Sodium
     
    8081
    mg
    351
    %
    Potassium
     
    46
    mg
    1
    %
    Carbohydrates
     
    4
    g
    1
    %
    Fiber
     
    2
    g
    8
    %
    Sugar
     
    2
    g
    2
    %
    Vitamin A
     
    380
    IU
    8
    %
    Vitamin C
     
    2
    mg
    2
    %
    Calcium
     
    13
    mg
    1
    %
    Iron
     
    0.8
    mg
    4
    %
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Rene Ford says

      January 03, 2025 at 6:09 pm

      5 stars
      Thank you! Was looking through my cook books and was floored by the 3 day pickling 4 day fresh water bath, etc etc. Have done your recipe and now waiting a few weeks to taste, but looks pretty good!

      Reply
    2. Alicia says

      July 17, 2024 at 9:30 am

      Hi Laura -
      Are you intending for this recipe to use quart or pint jars? Thanks!

      Reply
      • Laura says

        August 12, 2024 at 8:50 am

        Pint jars for this one

        Reply
    3. Andrea says

      February 21, 2024 at 11:06 am

      I only have iodised salt in the house at the moment and i was about to get started. Will that matter if i use it?

      Reply
      • Laura says

        March 24, 2024 at 12:12 pm

        Hi Andrea, iodised salt is not recommended to use as it can make your pickles cloudy, however as it's only used to brine them and you are washing it off in this case, you should get away with it!

        Reply
    4. Lily says

      February 16, 2024 at 3:04 pm

      Hi, recipe is amazing, the pickles taste incredible. Was wondering if you could let me know how long they last once canned?

      Reply
      • Laura says

        April 20, 2024 at 8:19 pm

        Hi! If the jars are sealed correctly, they will last a couple of years easily!

        Reply
    5. Keri Potter says

      February 12, 2024 at 6:34 pm

      Hi there I'm new to this pickling gerkins, what is pickling spice? Is it a home type mix of your favourite spice or is specific

      Reply
      • Laura says

        April 20, 2024 at 9:26 pm

        It is a box of ready made spice mix that you can purchase from the supermarket in the spice section!

        Reply
    6. Sarah says

      January 23, 2024 at 11:32 am

      5 stars
      Once bottled how long do they store for in a cupboard? Do you use heated water with the vinegar mix? I've just done 10 jars (700grams each), I didn't heat the water for the first 5 but I did for the last 5 as I wanted them to seal (I'm used to using hot items when preserving e.g apple sauce) but found the pickles cooler quickly, along with the jars as the water/vinegar was cold. I added mustard seeds and a tablespoon of sugar into the water/vinegar mix too as I like sweeter pickles 🙂 Thanks heaps for recipe, first time doing this with gherkins.

      Reply
      • Laura says

        April 20, 2024 at 9:21 pm

        Once the jars have sealed properly they will keep for at least 2 years. And I use hot water as you then boil the water and vinegar before adding to the hot jars - the jars are not likely to seal if you are adding cold liquid into the jars. I love adding mustard seeds too, so yummy!

        Reply
    7. Bernadine Rooney says

      January 08, 2024 at 6:23 am

      5 stars
      Hi Laura, are these the updated instructions for the water bath canning? Thanks

      Reply
      • Laura says

        April 20, 2024 at 9:02 pm

        Hi Bernadine, the post is now updated with water bath instructions!

        Reply
    8. Linda says

      November 28, 2023 at 5:27 pm

      Do you have an update on this recipe for water bathing? I’d prefer to process my jars this way and would love a time guide if you have one .

      Reply
      • Laura says

        April 20, 2024 at 9:07 pm

        I have finally updated the post!

        Reply
    9. debbie matheson says

      November 25, 2023 at 5:37 pm

      hi how long is the shelf life please

      Reply
      • Laura says

        April 20, 2024 at 9:17 pm

        If the jars seal properly, they will keep for at least a couple of years!

        Reply
    10. Alice says

      February 09, 2023 at 6:43 pm

      Hi, can I use this recipe for sliced gherkins? Would I slice before putting in the jars but after the salting process?

      Reply
      • Laura says

        September 03, 2023 at 2:44 pm

        Yes you can, and that's exactly what I would do!

        Reply
      • Bailee says

        January 14, 2024 at 10:00 am

        Hi, if water bath canning how long should these stay in the water bath? Recipe looks great!

        Reply
        • Laura says

          February 03, 2024 at 9:33 am

          I just water bath for 5 minutes

    11. ROBIN SMITH says

      February 02, 2023 at 1:58 pm

      5 stars
      Great recipe Laura, thanks, have many, so need to do the action bit, though in my case I have to go low on Sodium. Love the photo of you all with Black Lab. I had one for 16 years, she taught me what she could do, famous hunter/fisher and childminder, etc. I named her Chapp'at after a dog that was sent to north Norway where I was Reindeer herding, in the early 70s. That Chappat would hitch around North Norway and return to Margeroy once every 3 weeks in summer. Became very famous. She slept beside me in the tent. My dog lived up to the name 100 percent!

      Reply
    12. Carol Griffiths says

      January 23, 2023 at 2:03 pm

      Hi, I'm keen to pickle gherkins as I love them in Subway etc. I grew my own and have since picked two small cucumber sized gherkins and I was wondering if you recommend leaving them whole or would slicing them be ok too as I would like to do smaller jars as I would be the only one eating them.

      Reply
      • Laura says

        September 03, 2023 at 2:33 pm

        Slicing them will be absolutely fine! I've done it both ways

        Reply
    13. Kate says

      January 12, 2023 at 5:59 pm

      Can you slice them before bottling

      Reply
      • Laura says

        September 03, 2023 at 2:36 pm

        Sure can! I've done this before and I love it!

        Reply
    14. Kate Lang says

      January 06, 2023 at 6:32 pm

      I made dill pickles for years, beginning with a recipe from the US Ag service over 50 years ago. However, time, jobs and gardens, have only occasionally coincided and I lost the recipe. I think yours looks terrific and similar to the one I used way back. I will start them tomorrow. I use pickling spice and dill, adding to some jars, a clove of garlic in the bottom. The less you keep them in the fridge prior, the better the quality . Yum. A big dill pickle with bagels, smoked salmon and cream cheese--at 3 am in the morning. (I'm not that ethnic, but love the combo)

      Reply
      • John T says

        September 24, 2023 at 11:43 pm

        Mate that 3am snack suits me! At 77 ❤️I love thzt USA "Dagwood" flash back!

        Reply
      • Jamie says

        December 16, 2023 at 10:40 am

        Hi Laura, I'm keen to give these a go, but wanting to know more after water bathing! When would you do this step, and how long? Also, how well did they go? Cant wait to try! 🙂

        Reply
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