In a pickle – learning from our mistakes
Sometimes the shortest posts are the most important.
I’ve seen my first pickling cukes hit the market this week and thought I’d share a reminder of a trick from last year and a lesson we learned the hard way.
A secret for crispy quick pickles is to brine them in salted water for a day. Click the link for details.
The second secret is rinse them really, really, really good. failure to do so will result in very salty pickles.
I rinsed the bad boys above a few times last year; a quick toss through the strainer, got rid of the salt. Our final product is very salty – some people adore them while others (erm, me), think they are just a little too forward. I’m thrilled with their crunch and would definitely brine like this again, I’d simply not be afraid to over-rinse.
Comments
My key to crunchy pickles–other than using cucumbers picked less than a day ago–is to introduce a tannic element to your pickle crock. This can be horseradish leaves, grape leaves, or easiest of all oak leaves. I got this trick from Sandor Katz’s book Wild Fermentation.
I second the grape leaves!
Pickling cukes are only just hitting your end of town? We’ve had them for 6 weeks already- Ont cukes even- and the price is already dropping! My own are still at least a week away tho
Guess that’s the bonus of living in pickle heaven aka Roncesvalles.
I also live in the Roncy area and I’m all set to make a big batch of pickles tomorrow. Gotta love all those little markets!
Where do you find grape leaves? I’ve seen that hint too but I don’t know where to find them. I’d prefer that over adding extra salt.
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