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The cucumbers are going crazy in Zone 6a Rhode Island.
Hopefully next year we get a better crop of cucumbers and smaller ones. Last years were too big. Think they lost a lot of crunch. I'll need to plant a lot more garlic to be able to use it.
Awesome. What are planning on using for taste?
I make garlic dill and bread and butter (lots of turmeric)
“Pickles are cucumbers that have sold their soul to the devil. And the devil is dill.”
—Mitch Hedberg
Hate dill. Don't want my gherkins ruined.
I just use same recipe without dill
Do you have a favorite recipe? Still trying to find one I really like.
Everyone loves the bread and butter pickles. A standard recipe for them is fine.
The trick is to brine the cucumbers beforehand. You HAVE to cut the bloom end from the cucumbers right away. That end contains an enzyme that causes the cucumber to go soft.
I put 2.5 gallons of water in a bucket with 2 cups sea salt. Then I store the cucumbers with both ends cut off in that brine in a refrigerator. They can stay in the brine for up to 10 days. That way you can save up to do big batches.
Lastly, add 1/4 teaspoon 'pickle crisp' per quart jar of your pickles.
Doing all of this gives you very crispy pickles. The texture makes a great pickle. The best recipe with a soggy pickle is still a bad pickle.
Thank you for listening to my Ted-Talk.