Polish Pickles in Brine {Ogórki Kiszone}
Continuing the quest of enjoying summer veggies, I’m posting a recipe for Polish pickles in brine: ogórki kiszone [o-goor-kee kee-shoh-neh]. These are quite different from those you buy at the market here in the U.S. They don’t have any vinegar in them, they are very sour, sometimes spicy from the horseradish and garlic, and fragrant from dill.
This is a very simple recipe for a basic ogórek kiszony (kiszony means its pickled with salt only – no vinegar) and it can be adjusted to personal preference. You can add spicy peppers, more dill, more horseradish, more garlic, or just go with this simple composition.
Grandma always made jars upon jars of them, enough to last through the winter. During winter months we would make pickle soup out of them, eat on sandwiches or use for salads.
Pickles made this way and eaten after just a few days are called małosolne [pron: ma-woh-sol-neh]. They have a lot of the freshness of a raw cucumber still, but are starting to pick up some of the flavors from spices of the brine. Oh, are they tasty!! I encourage you to try one after about 3 days of sitting on the counter.
After about a week, they should become more sour, very juicy and translucent and water briny. Don’t be alarmed. The white, cloudy brine is normal.
Polish Pickles in Brine {Ogórki Kiszone}
Ingredients
- Pickling cucumbers
- SPICES PER QUART / LITER JAR:
- One 3 inch / 5 cm stick of horseradish root, peeled
- 1 (or more) twigs of fresh dill
- 3 garlic cloves
- Leaves of horseradish plant, oak, cherry tree, grape leaves, or currant leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- BRINE RATIO:
- 1 qt / 1 l of water
- 1 tbsp / 20 g of sea or rock salt
- ADDITIONALLY:
- Pickling jars and lids
- Large pot for disinfecting and pickling jars
Instructions
Sanitize jars and lids in boiling water. Wash cucum- bers and set aside. Peel horseradish root and cut into long strips (about 1⁄2 x 5 inch / 1 x 8 centimeter). Wash dill and peel garlic.
In a pot, boil water, and when hot add salt - SEE BRINE RATIO* - adjust to desired amount of jars.
Place a layer of dill on the bottom of the jar. Arrange the cucumbers to fit as many as you can to fill the jar. Place garlic, horseradish, and leaves in between the cucumbers. Add more dill on top.
Pour hot salt brine to cover the contents. Place cover on top of the jar, close tightly and leave at room temperature.
Pickles are ready when brine turns murky and cloudy (4-7 days). Lids will bulge out as the brine sours, this is normal.
Store unrefrigerated.
Notes
Best for pickle soup!
*General brine ratio for pickling cucumbers in brine is 1 to 1 (1 tablespoon of salt to 1 quart / 1 liter of water). You may adjust the recipe to yield more servings using this simple rule.
As mentioned before, the recipe for the brine is always the same = 1 heaping tbs of salt to 1 quart of water. You can adjust the amount of water as needed. I didn’t make a super huge batch, just 4 lbs of cucumbers, but if you’re working with a lot, it’s easy to gauge the amount of water/salt with this simple ratio. Be generous with spices, dill and garlic, they give out a lot of flavor.
Happy canning! Let me know how those turn out for you!
Anna
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Thank you for providing pronunciations!
To full preserve the pickles, do you boil for 4 minutes after the pickling process or after jars are packed before fermentation? Also do you put the lids on tight?
I scold the jars empty first and then boil once they’re packed. I put lids on tight enough for liquid to not seep out and tighten after they are cool enough to handle. Hope this helps.
Thank you for your recipes. Some I know, some supplement what I do know and some are new. I like them all. Also someone has done a bit of tampering. When I tried printing the ‘zupa ogorkowa recipe’, a giant smiley face would appear on the pages to be prinred. I still printed the reipe using a different method. Pozdrawiam.
Thanks for letting me know. I will investigate. Anna
When canning these pickles, do you need to seal the lids in a water bath? I would like to make several quarts to enjoy throughout the year.
Kellie, if storing in a cool pantry/basement, you don’t need to but if storing in room temperature it’s safer to seal in water bath. Filling with hot water will also do the trick.
I’ve always used cool water with the salt dissolved in it (nice to know I can skip the cooling step) and let them ferment in a container with an open top. And I’ve never used the horseradish root in the pickle (will this year!), but I use the leaves as a lid to the open jar, to keep the cukes submerged. I was told the tannin in the horseradish leaf would keep the pickles crisper. When they are ready, I do can some if I’ve made too many, but unprocessed they are a natural source of probiotics and very good for stomach health. Canning destroys the lactic acid in the brine.
Yes, drink the juice😊
Do you have to uses pickling salt for this recipe, or could you use sea salt, or Himalayan?
Not pickling salt, best to use rock or sea salt, Himalayan salt is also OK.
Thank you for sharing your recipes and techniques. My grandparents immigrated from Poland to the US and as a child I remember the crocks of pickles and sauerkraut they made every year and the jars stored on shelves in the basement root cellar on their farm in Ohio. I remember eating the pickles after only a few days of fermentation were a great treat. I was too young to learn from them so I’m very happy to find your blog and make these!
I made these pickles this summer and it brought back to taste of my childhood. I cannot buy “non-vinegar” dill pickles where I live so I am loving having my own supply.
Thank you!
Right?! Try making pickle soup with it! 🤤
What type of cucumber do you recommend for this recipe? Would Persian cucumbers be ok?
Thanks!
Hi Anna and Mark,
Just finished preparing my pickles in brine (wearing my brand new PYK apron of course). They look amazing in the jar. Now the hard part, waiting 4 to 10 days to taste them. I just can’t wait. Thank you for sharing this polish recipe. I bet they taste better than any of the pickles I’ve ever had in my life.
Taste one everyday to see how the flavor changes. It’s a fun experience 😍
Hello Anna!
I prepared your salt-brined pickles about 5 days ago in quart canning jars. They’re beginning to get cloudy, lids are bulging, and white sediment has formed at the bottom. I haven’t tasted them yet, but will soon!
I am storing them in a dark pantry (room temp). How long can they be stored there? Will they need to be refrigerated eventually? After a jar is opened, will it need to be refrigerated?
I canned them using hot sterilized jars and hot brine (did not water bath).
All sounds good. They can stay in the pantry until you’re ready to eat them. They will keep for months. Cloudy is good, white sediment is just lactic acid, normal for fermented foods. I refrigerate after opening because I think they taste better cold. Good luck!
Hi! Do the cucumbers have to be whole or can this still be made with slices or spears?