Pickling whole cucumbers
I know you have to cut off the ends to make the pickles not soggy when making cucumber spears...but if this is the case how do people pickle whole cucumbers?
Best Answer
We (my family) never had a problem, cucumbers always turned out crispy. I don't have exact recipe, it's all "when it tastes just right", but here are general steps:
- Select small cucumbers. 2 - 5cm, 1 - 2 inch long.
- Boil seasonings, water (and sugar if you want it) together. About 15 minutes of boil should be enough.
- When you turn off the heat, add 1 cup of 10% vinegar for every 4 cups of water. May be bit more, may be bit less, it's taste preference.
- Put washed cucumbers in jars. Tight but without forcing them. Add fennel (umbels), garlic, mustard seeds.
- When marinade is cool, pour it to jars, it should cover your cucumbers. It does not need to be cold. If you can put your finger in it and don't feel uncomfortable, it's OK. If in doubt, assume it's too hot.
- Put caps on jars and pasteurize them. 10 minutes of boil is abuot enough, but go by colour. Cucumbers will start to go yellowish. When almost all surface changed colour, it's time to pull jars off and left them to cool.
- We let them cool upside down.
That's about it. Don't know which step is essential for crispness. For me and mine, this is what always worked.
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Can you pickle full size cucumbers?
Kirby, Persian and garden-variety cucumbers will also work great. For pickle spears, use two Kirby or small garden cucumbers (about 6 ounces each). Or, use one longer garden cucumber (about 12 ounces) as shown here\u2014you'll just need to slice the spears in half through the middle so they're not too tall for your jar.Can you leave cucumbers whole when pickling?
Pay attention to the height of your jar versus the length of your cucumber pieces (so they aren't too tall to fit inside). You can also leave small pickling cucumbers whole. If time allows, feel free to soak the cut cucumbers in ice water for several hours before proceeding to packing the jars.How long does it take to pickle a whole cucumber?
Cucumbers can be fermented in a crock to produce genuine dill pickles. Fermenting genuine dill pickles takes 3 to 4 weeks at 70\xb0F. The fermentation process allows bacteria to produce lactic acid, which preserves the cucumbers and produces the characteristic color and texture of genuine dills.How do you keep cucumbers crisp when pickling?
5 Secrets for Crispy and Crunchy PicklesThe best GARLIC DILL PICKLES recipe!
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