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JennGM
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| Posted: July 10 2006 at 7:41am | IP Logged
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I need some advice. I planted 1 cucumber vine this year and it's prolific. But I have a confession. I can't stomach cukes. Raw cucumbers really make me sick, even the smell, ever since I was a little girl. So why plant it? I wanted to see how it grows.  But I do love pickles, so I thought I might try to pickle some this year? First time for everything, it seems!
So, my questions: 1) when do you pick a cucumber? I have some extremely large ones. Yank them now?
2) Any easy or successful recipes for kosher dill pickles? Nothing sweet please.
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MarieC
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There are some refrigerator dill pickle recipes at cooks.com that we are hoping to make this summer (haven't tried them yet). I'm scared of the canning process so refrigerator versions of pickles & jam are just my speed!
Good luck!
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stefoodie
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i'd pick them around 6-8 inches. i like cucumbers when they hardly have any seeds yet.
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teachingmyown
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Jenn, I envy you! We love cucumbers but didn't get a garden planted this year. And the price of them in the grocery store is horrible!
When we grew them before, I would pick them when they easily gave way off the vine. If you have to really tug, they aren't quite ready.
Can't help with recipes, sorry. But I am sure some of your neighbors would be glad to take some off your hands.
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lapazfarm
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It depends on what kind of pickles you want to make. You can pick them tiny for baby sweet or dill, or larger for whole, spears, or slices. Once past the 6-8 inch or so mark they get very seedy and not as good for pickling (or fresh eating for that matter).
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Sarah
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Yank them if their big. We forgot we planted some vines several years ago because we were expecting a new baby.
Ds found cucumber "bats" (as in baseball bats)later that summer. It was pretty funny!
Maybe next year you could look for the burpless type if their causing you indigestion. . .or maybe you just hate them altogether!
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Rebecca
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| Posted: July 10 2006 at 10:11am | IP Logged
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Jenn, Here is my favorite recipe for Kosher Dills
(makes 6-8 quarts):
20-25 cucumbers
1 quart vinegar
1 cup salt
3 quarts water
Wash cucumbers, let stand in cold water overnight (kitchen sink with ice water in it will do). Pack cucumbers in sterilized jars.
To each jar, add:
1/8 tsp. alum
1 clove garlic (I use more)
2 heads dill
1 hot red pepper (this does not make the pickles spicy, just very flavorful)
1 grape leave on top before sealing
Fill jars with vinegar, water salt mixture. Seal jars.
YUM!
Edited to add: BTW, I agree with Theresa about the large cukes being no good for pickling. They get mushy. Try to use the smaller ones.
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mrsgranola
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Oh, if you want to pickle cukes you need to pick them young. My dad grows several acres of cukes in the summer with a contract with Mt. Olive Pickles and they pick them really tiny. And once the third or fourth wave of cukes start to be crooked, they stop picking them! I picked over them the other day and got a couple gallons of cukes to eat and make relish. I wish I had time to make more but I won't be doing any of the long-soak brined pickles like my mom use to make. I just don't have the time. I'd rather use my energy for other canning...
The bigger cukes get soft, also and just don't taste as good, IMO.
I know you don't want sweet recipes but the relish I made was really good if you want it. I used the Ball Blue Book of canning, freezing, etc. for that recipe. I also have one called Keeping the Harvest.
Today I just finished making a batch of blackberry jam. I'm trying different recipes for different batches so we'll see which one I like best. 
JoAnna
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JennGM
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Oh, thanks for all the great advice.  Here are the big cucumbers I have. The rest are tiny yet, but lots. I do have Ball's book, so I'll check that out.
Rebecca, if I don't have 20-25 cucumbers, have you ever halved that recipe?
Sarah, it's not the aftertaste, it's the cucumber. 
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Cay Gibson
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Speaking of cucumbers, have you ever heard of a cuculoupe?
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JennGM
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| Posted: July 10 2006 at 10:51am | IP Logged
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Cay Gibson wrote:
| Speaking of cucumbers, have you ever heard of a cuculoupe? |
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I saw that post, Cay, and does sound intriguing. Wish there was a picture! Can't lie and say it sounds appetizing. 
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Rebecca
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JennGM wrote:
Rebecca, if I don't have 20-25 cucumbers, have you ever halved that recipe? |
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Sure Jenn,
You can just halve the water, salt, vinegar concoction.
The rest of the ingredients are added to each individual jar anyway. Have fun! 
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stefoodie
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sounds intriguing, cay. there was a discussion (post?) about this on dave's garden a couple of years ago.... but i don't remember what they said. i googled and found this:
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news -26/115237676490560.xml&storylist=louisiana
one year i had a bitter-melon-cucumber combination. yuk! we couldn't eat more than half of the cucumbers because they were cross pollinated and they were bitter. i suppose i could have tried to cook them like the bitter melons, but after using them in a salad they were SOOO bitter i didn't want to try.
maybe it's a fruitable. or a vuit.
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Cay Gibson
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Stef,
That sounds like the same (same date and all). I remember the radio announcer mentioning the LSU AgCenter agent.
No one seems to have a picture. 
My oldest dd was just wondering what it must taste like. Hmmmmm  We may never know.
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Cici
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I use a recipe just like Rebecca's. With the exception of the second set of ingredients. We just add garlic and dill. I did add a halved jalapeno to one or two jars (for my husband) - these DID make the pickles hot.
Rebecca - what does the grape leaf do? Where do you get grape leaves?
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marihalojen
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stefoodie wrote:
| one year i had a bitter-melon-cucumber combination. |
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I planted my hot peppers and bell peppers together one year and they cross pollinated into the hottest bell peppers I've ever had. Quite the surprise on the first relish tray of the year!
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Angela F
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I'm not Rebecca, but my mom always did this with her dill pickles and she said that the grape leaf helps the pickles to stay crunchy instead of soft.
Do you have any friends with grapevines??? That would be the place to get them!!
God bless,
Angela
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Rebecca
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I use a pepperoncini that has been allowed to ripen to red (not a jalapeno) because like Cici said, jalapenos make them very hot!
Yes, the grape leaf makes the pickles crisp. We used to have grape vines growing in our yard but no longer do. My mother has a friend with grapevines so I ask her for a few each time I make pickles. Ohio is known to have many vineyards but I never thought that it might be a difficult thing to acquire in other states.
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JennGM
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| Posted: July 11 2006 at 11:34am | IP Logged
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Rebecca wrote:
I use a pepperoncini that has been allowed to ripen to red (not a jalapeno) because like Cici said, jalapenos make them very hot!
Yes, the grape leaf makes the pickles crisp. We used to have grape vines growing in our yard but no longer do. My mother has a friend with grapevines so I ask her for a few each time I make pickles. Ohio is known to have many vineyards but I never thought that it might be a difficult thing to acquire in other states. |
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My banana pepper plant didn't grow this year, and I couldn't find a pepperonici plant to grow this year.
I live in an HOA which only allows three rail fences, so we can see into our neighbors. Our neighbor happens to have grape vines growing in his yard. What are the odds? So I know I have a few leaves available to me!
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Cucumbers
