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Brine Foe Cucumbers

A method for preserving cucumbers in a salt and alum brine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and cucumber are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,991 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Brine Foe Cucumbers

Ingredients

Directions

Make the brine

  1. Dissolve the alum in a little hot water.

  2. Combine water, salt, and the dissolved alum in a jar or keg.

Prepare and soak

  1. Wash the cucumbers carefully and remove any bruised ones.

  2. Add the cucumbers to the brine and place a weight on top to keep them submerged.

  3. Soak the cucumbers for a short time.

  4. Change the water as needed.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pepper + cucumbertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,991 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cucumbers
The main food being preserved; firmness depends on careful handling and removing bruised pieces.
Alum
Helps keep cucumbers firm during brining by tightening plant tissue.
Coarse salt
Draws water out of the cucumbers and seasons the brine for preservation.

The step that matters

Keeping the cucumbers submerged. Any cucumber left above the brine can spoil or mold because it is exposed to air. A weight holds everything under the liquid, where the salt brine protects the fruit.

“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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