How to make cucumber pickle

Hi , I'm Kirsty from River Ford , and I'm going to show you the first of our new preserving range , which is cucumber pickle .

The recipe was created by Gillian Watson , and it's great for serving with hard cheeses , pates , grating sandwiches as well .

And the best thing about it is it's really easy to make .

So the first stage of our pickle , we need to finely slice the cucumber and onions and then layer them in a bowl with our salt as we go .

Once your cucumbers and onions are all chopped and salted , put a plate on the top and then weigh them down either with an old weight .

Or use a heavy tin like this and you're leaving them overnight or for a few hours .

So then you want to rinse your vegetables well and leave them to drain for a while .

Put your cold jars in a baking tray to sterilise them and put them in a cold oven .

Turn it to 140 degrees and bring it up to temperature and then to sterilise the jars .

You just keep them in the oven for 15 minutes .

They actually stay warm in the oven whilst you're preparing the rest of the pickle for the lid , spoil them for 10 minutes and then just drain them on some kitchen paper .

So for the next stage , take your spice bag with the sugar in and tip it into your preserving pan and add the cider vinegar to it as well .

Heat the mixture very , very gently to dissolve the sugar , then bring the mixture to the boil .

Add your drained cucumber and onions to the mixture .

Once mixture is boiled for a minute and the spices are evenly distributed , you use a slotted spoon and just take out the cucumber and onion and carefully pop into the sterilised jars .

Fill it to the bright to the brim that will help keep your pickle and help it mature properly .

You've got the rest of the mixture left in the pan , and we're just going to simmer that very gently , just for about 15 minutes , just to reduce the liquid slightly .

Then you might find it easier to transfer the mixture into a jug and then carefully pour the mixture into each jar until the pickles covered completely with the liquid and take your sterilised lids and pop them on jars and seal them well .

So once your jars are all bottled and sealed , leave them to cool and then label them .

Store them in a cool , dry place for up to three months and leave them for about three weeks before eating .

They make really great gifts , and they're lovely to eat , so we hope you enjoy making them happy pickling .