Tips For Making Crunchy, Crispy, Cucumber Pickles
These tips were all taken from culturesforhealth.com:
- Add a few leaves of something with tannin in it, s/a oak, grape, bay, horseradish, even a teaspoon of loose, black tea.
- Remove the Blossom End. The end of the cucumber contains enzymes that soften pickles. Use a knife to remove a thin slice from the end, to preserve the firm texture.
- Ferment your pickles in a cool location. Don't let them get too warm during the summer months. (The fridge is probably too cold though.)
- Puncture the skin of your cucumbers before you start to ferment them. This allows the brine to penetrate the whole cuke.
- Use smaller cucumbers...more skin...more crunch.
~ C