Salt Cucumber Pickles
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cucumbers
Carefully pick cucumbers, cutting the stem instead of breaking them off. Do not bruise.
Wash the cucumbers and set them in a cool place for a day.
Make and pour the brine
Make a brine that will float an egg or potato.
Boil and skim the brine.
When cool, pour the brine over the closely packed cucumbers in a jar or keg.
Store and freshen
Keep the pickles weighted down and covered with brine.
To freshen, soak the pickles in fresh water for a day or two, changing the water two or three times.
Add 1 teaspoon of powdered alum to the water while freshening to make the pickles firm.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Cucumbers
- The vegetable being preserved; its texture softens and its flavor develops during brining.
- Salt
- Draws water out of the cucumbers and helps preserve them in the brine.
- Powdered alum
- Helps keep the cucumber tissue firm during freshening.
The step that matters
Make the brine strong enough to float an egg or potato. The brine's salt concentration controls preservation and firmness. A weak brine lets spoilage organisms grow, while a properly strong brine keeps the cucumbers safe and crisp. Keep the brine covering the cucumbers so they do not spoil at the surface.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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