A greenhouse cucumber plant in full swing gives more fruit than the salad bowl can take, including odd-shaped, slightly overgrown ones. This golden, turmeric-coloured relish chops them finely with sweet peppers and onion, brines them for a few hours, leaves them for a day in spiced vinegar and then seals them with a short boiling-water bath, so the jars keep in the cupboard.
- Makes
- about 2.1 litres, roughly 9 x 240ml (US half-pint) jars or 4–5 x 470ml (US pint) jars
- Time
- about 5 hours' brining and draining, 24 hours in the fridge, then 10 minutes' processing in boiling water (15 minutes above about 300m)
- Keeps
- best used within a year, unopened, in a cool, dark, dry place
- In season
- mid-summer to mid-autumn from a greenhouse or polytunnel
Ingredients
- 1.4 litres chopped cucumbers (measured in a jug)
- 350ml chopped sweet green pepper
- 350ml chopped sweet red pepper
- 120ml chopped onion
- 6 tbsp pickling or canning salt
- 475ml ice
- 950ml cold water
- 240ml granulated sugar (about 200g)
- 2 tsp mustard seed
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp whole allspice
- 2 tsp whole cloves
- 710ml white vinegar, 5% acidity
This is exactly half the tested batch; to make the full batch, double every quantity, and check the vinegar label says 5% acidity.
Method
- Wash the cucumbers, cut a thin slice off the blossom end of each, then chop them finely with the peppers and onion.
- Measure the chopped vegetables in a jug, then put them in a large stainless steel or unchipped enamel bowl (hot vinegar goes in later, so avoid a chilled glass bowl).
- Add the salt, ice and water, stir, and leave to stand for 4 hours.
- Drain the vegetables, cover them with fresh iced water and leave for another hour.
- Drain them well again.
- Tie the mustard seed, turmeric, allspice and cloves in a spice bag or a square of muslin.
- Put the sugar, vinegar and spice bag in a stainless steel or unchipped enamel pan (not copper, brass or iron) and bring to the boil.
- Pour the hot spiced vinegar over the vegetables, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.
- Wash the jars and keep them hot, and prepare new two-piece canning lids following the maker's directions.
- Put a rack in a canner or a deep stockpot (deep enough for 2.5cm of briskly boiling water over the jar tops), half fill it with water and heat it to about 82°C, hot but not boiling.
- Tip the relish into a large stainless steel or unchipped enamel preserving pan (not copper, brass or iron) and bring it to the boil. Lift out the spice bag.
- Fill the hot relish into the hot jars, leaving about 1.25cm of space below the rim, and make sure the liquid covers the vegetables.
- Wipe the rims with a clean, damp paper towel and put on the lids and screw bands.
- Don't skip the bath: it is what makes the jars safe in the cupboard. Using a jar lifter, stand the jars on the rack one at a time and add boiling water around them, not onto them, topping up until it is at least 2.5cm above the lids.
- Cover the pan and bring it to a full boil, then time 10 minutes (15 minutes above about 300m; parts of upland Scotland are that high, so check your height). If the boil stops, bring it back and restart the timing from zero.
- Turn off the heat, take the lid off and wait 5 minutes, then lift the jars out one at a time with a jar lifter, keeping them upright, onto a towel, at least 2.5cm apart.
- Leave them undisturbed for 12–24 hours without tightening the lids, then check the seals, label and store.
Why the vinegar can't change
Cucumbers, peppers and onions are all low-acid vegetables. On their own they aren't acidic enough to stop botulism bacteria growing (their pH is above 4.6), and a mixture of them only becomes an acid food when there is enough vinegar in it. That acid has to reach a minimum, even level right through every jar, and the balance of vinegar to vegetables in this recipe is what gets it there.
So keep every quantity as written. Measure the vegetables rather than guessing. Don't cut the vinegar or sugar, don't use a vinegar whose acidity isn't stated, and don't add courgette, cabbage or any other vegetable the recipe doesn't list. The peppers are part of the tested mix, so leave them in. There's more on this in mixing fruit and veg in preserves. If you want a different glut relish, the courgette relish and the end-of-season relish each have their own tested balance.
Which cucumbers to use
Whatever their shape, the cucumbers need to be firm and fresh, with no soft patches, and they are best used within a day of picking: cucumbers that stand for more than 24 hours can go hollow. A cucumber that has turned yellow, bulbous or soft on the vine has gone past ripe and will be bitter and tough-skinned, so leave that one out.
Under glass or in a polytunnel, warm, humid spells can take fruit from ripe to overripe in two or three days. Dealing with a glut of cucumbers covers picking little and often, and the cucumber growing guide covers growing them under cover and outdoors.
Keeping the relish crisp
If a batch comes out soft, check the blossom ends were trimmed: they can hold an enzyme that softens pickles. Don't shorten the salt and ice soak either.
Jars and the boiling-water bath
The processing times are only for US half-pint jars (about 240ml) and US pint jars (about 470ml) with two-piece canning lids (a flat lid plus a screw band). These are smaller than British half-pints and pints. Other sizes, including the common 250ml and 500ml jars, have no tested time for this relish, and nor do clip-top jars or old jam jars with twist-off lids. The guide to jars for preserving explains the different closures.
Because the jars are processed for 10 minutes, they don't need sterilising first; wash them and keep them hot until you fill them. Sterilising matters for chutneys and jams that are hot-filled without a bath; the sterilising guide covers how.
Skip the bath and this becomes a fridge relish: keep the jars in the fridge and eat them within a few days.
Checking the seal
Once the jars have cooled, take off the screw bands and test each lid:
| Test | Sealed | Not sealed |
|---|---|---|
| Press the centre | Stays down | Springs back up |
| Tap with a teaspoon | Clear, ringing note | Dull sound |
| Look across at eye level | Curves slightly down | Flat or bulging |
A jar that hasn't sealed can go in the fridge; eat it within a few days. Or reprocess it within 24 hours: check the rim for nicks, fit a new lid and process for the full time again.
Storing and opening
| Stage | Where | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Sealed | Clean, cool, dark, dry place (10–21°C), so not a damp shed or unheated garage | Best used within a year |
| Unsealed or hot-filled only | Fridge | Within a few days |
| Opened | Fridge | Within a few weeks to a month or two |
Store sealed jars without their screw bands, so the lids stay dry and a broken seal shows straight away. Keep them away from damp, which corrodes metal lids and can break the seal, and away from a cooker, hot pipes or sunlight. Before opening, check the lid still curves down. Throw a jar out without tasting if the lid has lifted, liquid spurts out, bubbles rise inside, the colour looks unnatural, it smells wrong or there is any mould. There's more in how long preserves keep.
Short of time? Make fridge pickles instead
If you'd rather skip the brine and the bath, quick fridge pickles turn sliced cucumbers into a single jar in about 20 minutes. They live in the fridge from the start.
Common questions
Can I use cucumbers that have gone yellow?
No. Odd-shaped and larger cucumbers are fine as long as they are firm, but yellow, bulbous or soft fruit is overripe, bitter and tough-skinned.
Which vinegar should I use?
White distilled vinegar of 5% acidity, as tested; it also keeps the relish a light, bright colour. Never use homemade vinegar or one whose strength isn't on the label.
Can I leave out the peppers or add courgette?
No. The peppers are part of the tested recipe, and adding or removing vegetables changes the balance of acid in the jar.
Can I use less sugar?
No. No reduced-sugar version has been tested, and the amounts of vinegar and sugar are part of what makes a preserve safe.
Can I use ordinary table salt?
Use pickling or canning salt if you can get it, or a fine salt with no added iodine or anti-caking agent (anti-caking agents can make the liquid cloudy). Avoid flaky salt: its density varies, so a spoonful doesn't hold the same amount.
Sources
Show the 13 sources
- Recipe proportions based on: Pickle Relish (National Center for Home Food Preservation, University of Georgia): all ingredients and quantities (halved), 5% white vinegar, spice bag, 4-hour salt and ice stand, 1-hour fresh ice water, 24-hour refrigeration, heating to boiling, filling hot into clean jars with ½ inch headspace, hot pack, half-pint or pint jars, processing 10 min (0–1,000 ft) and 15 min (1,001–6,000 ft), yield about 9 pints (full batch)
- Selection of Fresh Cucumbers (National Center for Home Food Preservation): firm cucumbers; odd-shaped and more mature cucumbers for relishes
- General Information on Pickling (National Center for Home Food Preservation): 5% white vinegar; don't alter vinegar, food or water proportions or use vinegar of unknown acidity; minimum, uniform acid level to prevent botulinum growth; trimming the blossom end, whose enzyme can soften pickles
- Ensuring Safe Canned Foods (National Center for Home Food Preservation): all fresh vegetables except most tomatoes are low-acid (above pH 4.6); mixtures become acid foods only with enough vinegar
- Sterilization of Empty Jars (National Center for Home Food Preservation): no pre-sterilising needed for pickled foods processed 10 minutes or longer in a boiling-water canner
- Using Boiling Water Canners (National Center for Home Food Preservation): rack, preheating water to 180°F (82°C) for hot packs, water at least 1 inch above jars, timing from the boil, restarting if the boil stops, 5-minute wait, canner deep enough for 1 inch of briskly boiling water over the jars, loading and lifting jars upright with a jar lifter, lifting jars onto a towel 1 inch apart
- Cooling Jars and Testing Jar Seals (National Center for Home Food Preservation): cooling 12–24 hours without retightening, removing bands, press, tap and eye-level tests, reprocessing within 24 hours with a new lid and the same time, refrigerating unsealed jars and eating within several days
- Storing Home Canned Foods (National Center for Home Food Preservation): clean, cool, dark, dry place at 50–70°F (10–21°C), use within a year, storing without ring bands, damp corroding lids, keeping away from heat and sunlight, spoilage signs, damp breaking seals
- Home Canning Equipment for Making Pickles (University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension): stainless steel or unchipped enamel; no copper, brass or iron
- Making Pickles (Colorado State University Extension): non-iodised canning or pickling salt; anti-caking agents cloud the brine; flake salt varies in density; white distilled vinegar keeps light-coloured vegetables light; no homemade vinegar; cucumbers standing more than 24 hours can go hollow
- Food Safety and Labelling Guidance for small scale home producers of chutneys, pickles, flavoured oils and jams (Scottish Borders Council): the amount of vinegar and sugar is essential for safety
- Storing Home-Canned Jams and Jellies (National Center for Home Food Preservation): opened jars kept in the fridge
- 25 dirt-cheap ways to garden organically and save (Garden Organic): opened chutney kept in the fridge