Senfgurken (German Mustard Pickles)
Senfgurken are traditional German pickles spiced with mustard seed. They're thrifty little spears, made by peeling and seeding overripe cucumbers at the end of the growing season.
Ingredients
For the Pre-Soak:
- 5 pounds ripe cucumbers or about 4 large cucumbers
- 1/4 cup pickling salt
For the Pickling Brine:
- 3 cups cider vinegar 5% acidity
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 tsp mustard seeds one for each pint
- 4 tsp mixed pickling spices optional, 1 tsp per pint
Instructions
- Peel the cucumbers.
- Slice the peeled cucumbers in half lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.
- At this point, you have half cucumber boats. Cut the boat in half, leaving a curved end at each end. Next, cut the half boats in half lengthwise, and then repeat. Each cucumber yields a total of 16 pieces, or 8 from each seeded half.
- Mix the cucumber pieces with salt, and then add just enough water to cover. Allow them to sit for 8 to 12 hours, or overnight.
- Drain the cucumbers.
- Prepare your jars and add mustard seeds (and pickling spices if using) to each jar.
- Add the vinegar and sugar to a pot and bring it to a boil. Add the cucumbers and boil for 1 minute.
- Load the hot cucumbers into the jars and top with brine, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Process the jars in a water bath canner for 10 minutes for pints (or 15 minutes for quarts), adjusting for altitude.
Notes
Water boils at a lower temperature at higher altitudes, so jars need to be processed a bit longer as you go up in elevation. Here are the altitude adjustments for canning Senfgurken:
- For 0 to 1,000 Feet in Elevation - Process pint jars for 10 minutes, and quart jars for 15 minutes.
- For 1,001 to 6,000 Feet in Elevation - Process pint jars for 15 minutes, and quart jars for 20 minutes.
- Above 6,001 Feet in Elevation - Process pint jars for 20 minutes, and quart jars for 25 minutes.