I decided to make a small batch with two English cucumbers as I didn't know if the English cucumber slices would become too soft during brining, unlike regular pickling cucumbers. One big difference from typical pickling recipes is that I use food grade calcium chloride to make pickles crisp and crunchy, and I don't know if that will compensate the tendency for non-pickling types of cucumbers to get too soft during brining. (Hint: It does!)
The recipe below is a subset/small version of my full recipe for this type of pickle, modified by using peppers instead of red pepper flakes, and scaled so you can make a small batch in a 2 1/2 to 3 quart jar. Of course, you can scale the recipe to whatever size jar you decide to use. Mine was/is a leftover jar from an earlier purchase of commercial pickles (Vlasic®).
Beyond ingredient modifications I decided to process the dry ingredients in a Magic Bullet® mixer to turn all of it into powder form. That was a fine decision.
Small batches don't require large buckets or much storage space during the brining process. I'm using my garage for the brining period, which has Fall temperatures in the range of 60 degrees F to 70 degrees F in our New England climate.
I list sodium benzoate as an optional ingredient. As a preservative it allows you to keep the pickles in the brine in a sealed jar or in vacuum sealed bags, refrigerated, for a shelf life of up to a year. Note that it is not added until after the brining period, for if welcome fermentation accompanies the brining you don't want to stop it with a preservative. Later, you want the preservative to eliminate any future worry related to bacteria or yeast. If you don't use a preservative you must keep the pickles refrigerated and you should eat all of the pickles within three months.
My results? Wow! Yes, this method works just fine, and these babies are hot! You might want to use fewer peppers. Your choice. Have fun.
Ingredients: (Use a 2 1/2 to 3 quart wide mouth jar)
1 1/2 lbs. of fresh young pickling cucumbers or 2 English cucumbers
1/2 large head of fresh dill, bottom of stems cut off, chopped
1 1/2 quarts of water
6 oz. of white distilled vinegar (5% acidity)
2 tbsp. of Kosher salt
2 tbsp. of sugar
1 jalapeno pepper sliced 1/8" thick slices with seeds
8 small hot red Thai peppers, tops cut off and discarded, bases cut in half
1 tsp. of mustard seeds
1/4 tsp. of ground turmeric
1 tsp. of black peppercorns
2 large cloves of fresh garlic, sliced thin
1/4 tsp. of food grade calcium chloride
1/4 tsp. of sodium benzoate concentrate (optional) (You can buy it from Koldkiss® via the Internet)
Directions:
Powder the dry ingredients (salt, sugar, mustard seeds, turmeric, peppercorns, calcium chloride) with a Magic Bullet® mixer. That takes about one minute at most.
Add the powdered dry ingredients mixture to the liquid brine ingredients (water, vinegar) in a 3 qt. bowl and stir to mix.
Process the other ingredients (garlic, peppers, dill) except the cucumbers and mix them into the brine.
Slice the cucumbers on a either straight line, end to end, or on a diagonal, and 1/4" thick.
Add the cucumber slices to the brine bowl and mix well.
Dispense the bowl contents into the 2 1/2 to 3 quart jar. I use a canning jar funnel typically used when dispensing brines for canning vegetables, and that eliminates any spilling, unless, of course, you are spastic! Old people (like me) beware!
Place a small tumbler (glass) on top of the mixture, that slightly sticks above the rim of the jar (1/2" to 1") when it is put on top of the jar contents, to force all cucumber slices and other ingredients into the brine when you close the lid on the jar. That simple trick keeps you from having to stir the brining cucumber slices to assure even pickling and no formation of mold.
Put the lid on the jar and store the brining cucumbers at 60 to 70 degrees F for two weeks.
Add the sodium benzoate (if you are using it) to the mixture and mix well.
Then serve the delicious pickles, and perhaps vacuum seal and refrigerate some of them, where they will keep very well for months if you used the optional sodium benzoate. Otherwise, without sodium benzoate, it is best to keep the pickles and brine in the brining jar in the refrigerator and use the pickles within one to three months.
The pickle slices go very well on any sandwich like a sub, a ham and cheese sandwich, or even on an hors d'ouvres tray.
Enjoy!