Brine should be made by heating up the water and dissolving the salt then cooling everything down but in our case this won't be necessary. Just keep track of the amount of water is used filling up the jar and add the amount of salt required for pickling. Mind that too much salt will create an overly salty pickle and a too small amount of salt won't preserve the texture of the cucumbers letting them turning soft and soggy. Wash the cucumbers thoroughly. Don't overdo it in cold water with a bit of scrubbing will be plenty. If the cucumbers are big we can chop off the tops and bottoms then pierce them through and cut them alongside essentially creating 4 slices of the one big one. It's not necessary to cut them through to the top and bottom. Fill our container with the cucumbers as tightly as possible. Add garlic black pepper dill and the optional herbs and spices. Salt can be added now as well if we know about the rough amount of water needed for filling up the jar. Fill the container up with water and add the necessary amount of salt that shouldn't be less than 1 tablespoon per 4 cup (1l) of water. Place something on top of the container that will keep the cucumbers down. This can be a small plate clean stone piece of wood or more organic materials like sliced potato vine leaves or slices of bread among others. Cover the whole thing with a plate or in case we use a pickling earthenware jar put the lid on and let it sit on room temperature for at least 2 days. After two days check for firmness and flavor. If it is soggy and soft consider it a failed attempt and use more salt next time.