Beiiste for Cucumbers
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the brine
Dissolve the alum in a little hot water.
Combine the dissolved alum, water, coarse salt, and black pepper in a jar or keg.
Pickle the cucumbers
Wash the cucumbers carefully, discarding any bruised ones.
Add the cucumbers to the jar, placing a weight on top to keep them submerged.
When ready to pickle, soak the cucumbers for a short time, changing the water as needed.
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
- Alum
- Firms the cucumber flesh so it stays crisp during pickling.
- Coarse salt
- Draws out moisture and preserves the cucumbers through brining.
- Black pepper
- Adds aromatic heat and flavor to the brine.
The step that matters
Keep the cucumbers fully submerged. Any cucumber exposed to air can soften and spoil, because oxygen allows surface microbes and mold to grow. A weight keeps every piece under the brine throughout the pickling.
“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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