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

ooOooo, add a bit of loose tea. I'll try that. Fresh summer cucumbers are a favorite here. We don't grow them and they are always so waxy from the store. I scrub them, but still 'peel them carelessly' so there is some green for color.

I remember Mom & Grandma using well water (hard water) to make pickles. Rain water from cistern to wash clothes.

Thanks, Tropit. My husband and son love to make pickles.

Be sure you use pickling cucumbers. Don't use purposes ones, they won't work.

Add alum to your liquid.

Mom would add a grape leaf to the jar of cucumbers that were to be pickled - now I know why.

I find this interesting that no one mentions whether these are sweet pickles, bread & butter pickles or dill pickles. Do these suggestions work for all the types of pickles? When I saw ferment, I thought probably dill? Am I wrong?

Agree ...... I was always told that alum gave dill pickles their crunch.


Can't answer your questions specifically, BarbInLouisianna ....However, the only recipe where I have seen or use alum is for dill pickles.

Tips For Making Crunchy, Crispy, Cucumber Pickles
 

I have an easy recipe for a crisp sweet pickle. It would take a while to type. I will gladly share (copy & paste) if you are interested and allow me to pm you.
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