Hungarian-Style Pickled Cucumbers for Winter

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make Hungarian-style pickled cucumbers? Gather all the ingredients. Wash the cucumbers; peel the onion and carrot and rinse them.

2. Step 2:

   

   Wash the jars thoroughly in hot water with mustard powder or baking soda and rinse well. Cut the carrot into rounds and the onion into wedges. Put some of the onion and carrot in the bottom of the sterilized jars. You can sterilize the jars any way you like—over steam, in the oven, or like I do, in the microwave: pour about 3/4 inch (2 cm) of water into each jar and microwave for 4 minutes at 1000 watts. Boil the lids for 10 minutes.

3. Step 3:

   

   Trim the ends off the clean cucumbers and pack them into the jars, alternating with the cut vegetables, up to the shoulders of the jars.

4. Step 4:

   

   Pour the water into a saucepan, add the sugar, and stir.

5. Step 5:

   

   Add the salt to the pan. Coarse salt is best—fine salt makes it easy to over-salt, and iodized salt can supposedly cause jars to blow. Even if that's now considered a myth, it's not worth the risk.

6. Step 6:

   

   Set the pan over medium heat and bring to a boil; the sugar and salt should dissolve completely. Pour in the vinegar and bring back to a boil.

7. Step 7:

   

   Pour the hot marinade over the cucumbers in the jars, filling them all the way to the top.

8. Step 8:

   

   Pour hot water into a deep pot and lay a clean cloth on the bottom. Cover the jars with lids and set them in the pot—the water should come up to about two-thirds of their height. Bring everything to a boil over medium heat. Lower the heat a bit, and once bubbles appear along the inside walls of the jars, process for 10 minutes, then lift them out and seal right away. Turn the jars upside down, wrap them until completely cool, then store in a cool, dry place.

9. Step 9:

   

   Enjoy!