Someone asked me this morning what can I do with all of these cucumbers I have so many I am running out of ideas? Anyone who has ever planted cucumbers would know that one day there is nothing and the next the vine is covered.
If you are from anywhere in the South, refrigerator pickles at a summer meal is a staple. These are made daily with a cut-up peeled cucumber, vinegar, water (to dilute the vinegar), a little sugar (1 Tbsp.), and salt and pepper. Prepare and put in a bowl to chill while you are making dinner they will be perfect by the time the food is ready.
For years, cucumber was considered to be primarily “diet food” because of its low caloric content. Recent research, however, has shown this water-laden vegetable contains significant amounts of phyto-nutrients that have a wide array of human health benefits. Cucumbers are commonly grouped into three types: burpless, slicing and pickling. Greenhouse cucumbers are also classified as a cucumber cultivar and can be included in this list.
Other ways you can prepare cucumbers of course are in green salads, just to eat raw as a snack, and they are great in pasta salads. The only real way to preserve cucumbers is to make pickles, they don’t freeze or cook well.
Preparing pickled and fermented foods
The many varieties of pickled and fermented foods are classified by ingredients and methods of preparation.
Regular dill pickles and sauerkraut are fermented and cured for about 3 weeks. Refrigerator dills are fermented for about 1 week. During curing, colors and flavors change, and acidity increases. Fresh-pack or quick-process pickles are not fermented; some are brined several hours or overnight, then drained and covered with vinegar and seasonings. Fruit pickles usually are prepared by heating fruit in a seasoned syrup acidified with either lemon juice or vinegar. Relishes are made from chopped fruits and vegetables that are cooked with seasonings and vinegar.
Be sure to remove and discard a 1/16-inch slice from the blossom end of fresh cucumbers. Blossoms may contain an enzyme that causes excessive softening of pickles.
Caution: The level of acidity in a pickled product is as important to its safety as it is to taste and texture.
- Do not alter vinegar, food, or water proportions in a recipe or use a vinegar with unknown acidity.
- Use only recipes with tested proportions of ingredients.
- There must be a minimum, uniform level of acid throughout the mixed product to prevent the growth of botulinum bacteria.
Pickles with reduced salt content
In the making of fresh-pack pickles, cucumbers are acidified quickly with vinegar. Use only tested recipes formulated to produce the proper acidity. While these pickles may be prepared safely with reduced or no salt, their quality may be noticeably lower. Both texture and flavor may be slightly, but noticeably, different than expected. You may wish to make small quantities first to determine if you like them.
However, the salt used in making fermented sauerkraut and brined pickles not only provides characteristic flavor but also is vital to safety and texture. In fermented foods, salt favors the growth of desirable bacteria while inhibiting the growth of others. Caution: Do not attempt to make sauerkraut or fermented pickles by cutting back on the salt required.
For recipes or more information on pickling or fermenting foods call or email Mary Morris at 252-482-6585; mary_morris@ncsu.edu.
Quick Fresh-Pack Dill Pickles
- 8 lbs of 3- to 5-inch pickling cucumbers
- 2 gals water
- 1¼ cups canning or pickling salt
- 1½ Qts vinegar (5 percent)
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 quarts water
- 2 tbsp whole mixed pickling spice
- about 3 tbsp whole mustard seed (2 tsp to 1 tsp per pint jar)
- about 14 heads of fresh dill (1½ heads per pint jar)
- or
- 4½ tbsp dill seed (1½ tsp per pint jar)
Yield: 7 to 9 pints
Please go to https://nchfp.uga.edu and read Using Boiling Water Canners before beginning. If this is your first-time canning, it is recommended that you read “Principles of Home Canning.”
Procedure: Wash cucumbers. Cut 1/16-inch slice off blossom end and discard, but leave ¼-inch of stem attached. Dissolve ¾ cup salt in 2-gals water. Pour over cucumbers and let stand 12 hours. Drain. Combine vinegar, ½ cup salt, sugar, and 2 quarts water. Add mixed pickling spices tied in a clean white cloth. Heat to boiling. Fill jars with cucumbers. Add 1 tsp mustard seed and 1½ heads fresh dill per pint. Cover with boiling pickling solution, leaving ½-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process 10 Min in Hot Water Bath according to the recommendations.
June 25, 2020 at 05:00PM
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