If you're like me, you can eat a jar of pickles in one sitting. So that's why you should make your own by the gallon. In my opinion, the only proper pickle is one that tastes like a Klaussen: tangy, garlicky, salty, even spicy, but definitely not sweet and not full of dill. Sweet pickles, "bread and butter" pickles, and all that nonsense is well, nonsense.
I do about a 1:3 ratio of white vinegar to water, then add whatever spices I can find. Chopped raw garlic, black peppercorns, crushed dried red pepper, and lots of kosher salt usually make a pretty good brine. Taste the brine! If it doesn't have a delicious taste almost good enough to drink, then the pickles won't taste good either. A few weeks of pickling in the fridge seem to amplify all the flavors in the brine, so if there is even a hint of a bad flavor, it will carry over to the pickles. Also, don't use too much vinegar; it only takes a relatively small proportion to properly acidify the brine.
I then add a few pounds of quartered cleaned pickling cucumbers (the small ones with lots of bumps make the best pickles!) which are sometimes available really cheap at a farmer's market and let them sit up in the fridge for about 2 weeks. I find that I can start eating them after 1 week but they are still slightly crunchy at that stage. But this is no problem at all for me because I really don't care for the mushy processed pickles that you tend to buy on sale for $1/jar at a dollar store.
Just a last word on the commercial pickle mixes sold in grocery stores: all the ones I've tried are super sweet, even the ones labeled "kosher dill." I tried those a few times, using way less than the amount called for on the package, and I still ended up with a sweet pickle. So those are a no no.
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