BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.

Subject: BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.
From: I don't know
Date: 23 Mar 11 - 04:40 AM

For many years we have grown more than enough cues for our own use & now I am at home full time I am interested to know if it is possible to simply pickle them like you do onions?
Thank you for any suggestions.

Subject: RE: BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.
From: gnomad
Date: 23 Mar 11 - 05:16 AM

Certainly possible to pickle cucumber, but I've never done it. food.com has a number of recipes.

Subject: RE: BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.
From: catspaw49
Date: 23 Mar 11 - 05:55 AM

What the hell is a Pickerling Cucumber?


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 23 Mar 11 - 05:58 AM

So far as the commercial product is concerned:

PICKLE = CUCUMBER

Other things (onions, beets, okra, etc) are sometimes picled, but the "little green weenies" are mostly cucumbers.

I don't know if it remains true, but in most parts of the US the State Agriculture Agent was, a decade or two ago, one of the better places to get advice on pickling and other "canning" processes, since their business is food safety. 4H and FFA orgs might also be helpful, and if you find an active group they may have lots of other helpful "domestic" advice at hand.

Custom in my area when I was a kid was to select the small ones to pickle whole. The art with the little ones is getting a "crisp" pickle - if that's how you like 'em.

Larger ones were sometimes "quartered lengthwise" but more often just sliced - for better penetration of the juices.

The little ones usually were made up as "sour pickles" but the slices were usually finished with a fair bit of dill and a touch of clove, mild and "sweet" and called "bread & butter" pickles among my crowd. Most people mixed some "onion rings" in with the B&B slices, and a few people liked to add some slices of red bell pepper just for the color.

If you have a recipe for pickling onions it's probably quite similar to what you'd do for the milder cuke pickles, although cucumber pickles more often use some alum along with the salt for the "presoak" brine.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.
From: catspaw49
Date: 23 Mar 11 - 06:05 AM

For every great homemade pickle maker, there are 99 who make (to use the old Andy Griffith line) "Kerosene Cukes." I don't know why everyone thinks they make great pickles but I think it is the same syndrome that makes everyone think they make great lasagna.




Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.
From: Bobert
Date: 23 Mar 11 - 08:46 AM

We pickle 'um... Might of fact, the pickling cukes are great to grow just for themselves as one is about the perfect amount for a salad and so you don't end up with half left to wilt in the refrigerator... We also grow our own dill to make 'um...

Most farm supply places have packets of pickling spices if ya'll don't want to assemble everything individually...

We also put a hot pepper in some of ours when we can 'um which gives us hot dill pickles... Yummy...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 23 Mar 11 - 09:07 AM

Are they like gerkins? I've never tried them either, wouldn't cues go soft?

Subject: RE: BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.
From: GUEST,999
Date: 23 Mar 11 - 10:29 AM

I love garlic dill pickles with smoked meat sandwiches.

Subject: RE: BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.
From: GUEST,999
Date: 23 Mar 11 - 10:30 AM

That should read "I love garlic dill pickerlings with smoked meat sandwiches."

Subject: RE: BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 23 Mar 11 - 10:40 AM

I don't do canning, so I prefer to make refrigerator pickles. Cukes are fine, but you can use just about any vegetable (onions, celery, bell peppers). And I ALWAYS throw in plenty of onions.

Peel and cut the cucumbers -- I prefer chunks or thick rounds.

Make a brine of 1 part sugar to 1 part vinegar (I actually prefer white vinegar for its sharpness). Heat to dissolve sugar. Pour over the vegetables.

You can throw in peppercorns or pickling spice if you want. I usually use pickling spice.

Keep in the refrigerator. I don't know how long they last -- they're usually either gone or added to.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 24 Mar 11 - 12:45 AM

Bat Goddess-
Throw in a couple of sprigs of dill and some crushed garlic cloves and you have a pretty approximation of kosher dills.

Subject: RE: BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.
From: Rustic Rebel
Date: 24 Mar 11 - 03:24 PM

Cucumbers-If you want to pickle them it's best to grow the pickle cucumber (you can pickle your regular eating cucumber if picked small).
Pickling pickles have smaller seeds. Pick them at your choice pickle size. I do a lot of baby pickles. (I'm not a picklephile abuser)

My recipe; cucumbers
Brine- 8 cups water
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups white vinegar
a little less than 3/4 cup pickling salt-
2 heads of dill weed
2 cloves of garlic.
Wash cukes well and make sure the blossom end is picked off.
Pack your clean hot jars with cukes, dill and garlic.
Boil brine and pour over cukes. Let stand 15 minutes and pour brine back in pan, reboil, and pour back over pickles.
Boil a side pan with water, when boiling take off heat and put your lids in the water.
Wipe top of jars clean and put the warm lid on then your rim.
You don't need to hot water bath-they will seal. If you want to hot water bath-set the sealed jars in boiling water for about 20 minutes. I have never used the water bath method and my pickles are great!
Add some hot pepper if you want a good Bloody Mary pickle!
I usually don't open a jar for at least two months after pickling.

Peace.
Rustic

Subject: RE: BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Mar 11 - 04:18 PM

Next time you get a large watermelon, pickle the rind (throw the pink stuff on the inside into the compost heap). I loved them when I was a kid.
Have to dig out a recipe again, but I have digestive problems now with the vinegar that is used.
This recipe is close to the way gramma made them-
http://www.ehow.com/how_2078689_make-watermelon-pickles.html


pickerling watermillions- sounds good!

Subject: RE: BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Mar 11 - 09:02 PM

Gather ye cukes while ye may.

Wash them and chop off the ends.

Peel them if you wish, or slice 'em up any way you care to.

Put them in a large earthenware crock and cover with a mixture of vinegar, water, sugar, garlic cloves, dill, orange peel, caradamon, and crushed dried habanero peppers.

Put a weighted board that just fits into the crock on top of the mess.

Wait six weeks and dispose of via the local hazmat team.

Better yet, if you have extra cukes do with them like you do with zucchini: sneak them into a neighbor's car or something.

Subject: RE: BS: Pickerling cucumbers, any ideas how.
From: maire-aine
Date: 24 Mar 11 - 11:11 PM

Check out this Pickle & Preserves thread from a while ago. There are a lot of suggestions there.

Maryanne