August 28, 2019 • 13 mins
Are you tired of dealing with soft, squishy pickles? I’m sure I’m not the only one who has dealt with this problem. After years of experimentation and fighting with different recipes, I’ve collected these 5 simple tips to take your pickles to the next level. We’ll learn why small cucumbers are the best, why immediate canning leads to crunchy pickles, and why the blossom end might be our biggest enemy. You’ll also hear about my favorite way to keep pickles fresh for the long-haul.
Some highlights from the episode:
- Why you should always use small cucumbers
- What is tannin and why you should use it
- How Tea can power up your pickles
Do you want to start canning but don’t know where to begin? Head over to https://www.learnhowtocan.com for everything you need to get started today!
OTHER HELPFUL RESOURCES FOR YOUR HOMESTEAD:
- Sign up for weekly musings from my homestead: http://theprairiehomestead.com/letter
- Get my free homesteading tutorials & recipes here: www.theprairiehomestead.com
- Jill on Instagram: @jill.winger
- Jill on Facebook: http://facebook.com/theprairiehomestead
- Apply to be a guest on the Old-Fashioned on Purpose podcast: https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/podcast-guest-application
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the old fashioned on purpose podcast.
In today's episode, we arediving into the problem that has
plagued pickle makers forcenturies.
How do you find a pickle recipethat results in perfectly crisp
cucumbers?
With that highly sought aftercrunch?
(00:21):
I'm excited to share my besttips with you today to make this
happen.
I'm your host Jill winger, andfor the last 10 years I've been
helping people just like you whofeel a little uninspired by
modern life.
I'll show you how to create thelife you really want by growing
(00:42):
your own food and mastering oldfashioned skills.
In the past when I go to makehomemade pickles and have the
cucumbers in the colander andbring the big pots out of the
basement, Christian, my husbandwould always raise an eyebrow
and say in this questioning toneof voice, they're going to be
(01:06):
crunchy pickles.
Right?
And I would respond with falseconfidence.
Sure.
Honey, you bet.
Honestly, it took me quiteawhile to figure out how to
actually get crunchy picklesbecause for the longest time I
(01:30):
was the queen of the smooshyones that you know are a little
soggy and a little mushy in thejar.
I tried all sorts of things overthe years.
I've made a lot of pickles.
For some reason cucumbers loveWyoming so they'd grow well
here.
And like anything else, I foundthat if you talk to a dozen
(01:51):
different people to get theirpickle making advice, you get a
dozen different answers.
So in my quest for the ultimatecrunchy pickle recipe, because
yes, I really do care about suchthings.
As silly as it sounds, I havecollected a number of little
tricks that I think might behelpful to you if you have this
(02:11):
same issue.
Now keep in mind you do not haveto use all of these tricks at
the same time, but mix and matchand use a combination of them
that suits your situation andthe cucumbers that you have
available.
So without further ado, here aremy five secrets for crunchy
(02:34):
homemade pickles.
Okay.
Number one is probably by farthe most important one on the
list.
Okay.
It is drum roll.
Please use small cucumbers.
I realize as I say this, this iseasier said than done.
(02:57):
Please tell me I'm not alonebecause year I grow cucumbers.
You know I plant them, they comeup, I weed them, I watch them,
there's no pickles in sight andI think in about another month
or two I'll be ready to startcanning.
We probably get some fruit onthe vine, you know, just going
to take awhile.
(03:17):
And then usually about a weekafter I think that I go out to
the garden and there arecucumbers, the size of baseball
bats laying there under theplants and I go, I do not know
how on earth they got therebecause a week ago there was
nothing.
Please tell me I'm all not alonewith this because it happens to
(03:38):
me every year.
It's almost getting embarrassingnow.
All that to say baseball batcucumbers do not make good
pickles.
You can do other things withthem.
Avoid pickles.
You really need to pick themwhen they're small and cute in
order for them to be crunchy.
(03:59):
Okay.
And it's kind of a natural law.
If you are using ginormousovergrown cucumbers for your
homemade pickles, nothing willturn them crunchy.
I don't care how many prayersyou say or how many tricks you
use.
They are just gonna be soft.
So tip number one means you haveto check your plants frequently,
(04:22):
which is something I'm stilltrying to learn how to do.
Or if you're getting picklesfrom the farmer's market or the
grocery store, make sure you areselecting pickling cucumbers.
It really does matter becauseyou know your traditional long,
big cucumbers you used forsalads, they're not firm and
(04:42):
they're just not gonna make asdesirable pickles.
So get pickling cucumbers andpick the small ones.
And I even squeeze them like asI'm picking them off the
farmer's market, a booth or I'mpicking them out of the garden.
I'm picking the ones that don'thave a lot of give when I
squeeze them.
And those are the ones I'm goingto prioritize turning into
(05:04):
pickles.
If you do end up in the gardenwith some big ginormous
cucumbers, even if they'repickling cucumbers, they're
still good for slicing.
My kids still eat them.
We still put them in salads.
There's still great with ranchdressing.
Just leave them out of the jars.
Okay.
Tip number two goes right alongwith number one.
(05:28):
Maybe not quite as crucial butstill pretty darn important and
that is to pickle themimmediately after picking or as
soon as possible.
If you can go straight from thevine to the jar, that is going
to set you up for the mostsuccess and the crunchiest
(05:51):
pickles.
When I'm growing cucumbers inthe garden and I know I'm going
to pick them, I try coordinatethe picking with the pickle
making on the same day ifpossible or the following day.
Now I realize if you're notgrowing them, you don't have
full control over when they'repicked.
So if you're at the farmer'smarket or the supermarket
(06:14):
shopping for pickling cucumbers,like I said before, you're going
to just check that the onesyou're getting are firm and hard
and small.
And then when you do get themhome, make sure you don't leave
them on the counter for days anddays before you get around to
pickling them.
The fresher, the better.
And that will give you thecrunchiest pickles in the end.
(06:38):
Okay.
Number three, soak yourcucumbers in an ice water bath
for a couple of hours beforecanning.
If I can't get to work on mypickles immediately after I get
them out of the garden or I gethome from the farmer's market, I
will put them in a bowl.
Or sometimes I'll put them in abig stockpot if I don't have
(06:58):
room for a giant bowl in thefridge and I'll put them in, put
cold water and a lot of ice andlet them soak.
And sometimes that's even a goodidea for a super fresh cucumbers
.
If you know you're canning inthe afternoon, just stick them
in the ice water bath in themorning.
And they just tend to firm upquite a bit during that ice bath
(07:21):
and that will definitely helpwith their crispness.
Okay.
These last two tips are a littlemore at your own discretion and
I think some of these have beenpassed around more a little bit
like old wives tales.
Maybe not completely, I haven'tseen as big of results from
(07:41):
doing these two things, but itdefinitely doesn't hurt.
So if you're just trying to setyourself up for the most success
possible with your pickles,doesn't hurt to try it.
Okay.
So number four, secret numberfour is to cut the blossom ind
off of the cucumber.
It is said, and again, I don'thave scientific research to back
(08:03):
this up, but it is said thatthat blossom end, which would be
the pickle, the part of thepickle that had, well sometimes
they get the, the yellowblossoms, it has enzymes in it
that can cause mushiness.
So trimming it off is your bestbet.
Um, when I have little tiny cutecucumbers, I don't always trim
(08:25):
this off unless it's a reallybig blossom there.
But for my more medium sizedcucumbers, I definitely just
trim it.
I don't take a lot of thecucumber off.
Just shave it off and call itgood.
Along with that one, numberfive, you can add tannins in the
jar.
So tannins are something that isfound naturally in oak leaves,
(08:51):
grape leaves, or in black tea.
Now I find this trick, when yougo online and search for crunchy
pickles, this trick is always,always, always recommended.
But I've honestly had pretty hitor miss results with it.
So if you have oak leaves orgrape leaves handy, you know, if
you have them growing outsideand it's easy for you to get
(09:13):
them, it definitely doesn't hurtto toss one in each jar or a
couple.
But I wouldn't go out of yourway or spend a lot of money
trying to get grape leavesshipped in.
Another option, if you want totry the whole tannin idea, but
you don't want to find grapeleaves, is to add a half
teaspoon of loose black tea toeach jar before you fill it up.
(09:40):
Again, it's not going to turnyour big smushy cucumbers into
crisp pickles, but if you justwant to give yourself a little
extra oomph, it's worth a tryand isn't going to cost you a
lot of time or money.
Now, back in the day and a lotof the old pickle recipes,
you'll see that it isrecommended to add alum or
(10:05):
food-grade lime to help withcrispness.
Alum is technically aluminum andit's not recommended anymore
just because now we know thataluminum in our food is really
bad for us and I don't likeusing any aluminum in my
kitchen, you know, aluminumdishes or pans.
I just always avoid it, so I'mreally not going to add it into
(10:28):
my pickles.
Therefore, I have no personaldata to share with you in the
interest of adding alum, but I'mpretty sure if you use the tips
above the five little tips Ijust shared, you're probably not
going to even need to consideralum or lime.
So just skip those.
All right, so let's say you useevery single trick I just told
(10:52):
you and you still get mushypickles because here's the deal.
Mushiness happens sometimes,even if you are doing everything
in your power to prevent it.
The good news is mushy picklesare still very edible and often
if I have bigger cucumbers thatI've canned just because they
(11:14):
are literally drowning me out ofmy kitchen and I have to do
something with them and I knowthey're going to be mushy.
I use those ones for justchopping up to add to potato
salad or relish or whatever, andI keep the smaller crispier ones
for just eating out of the jar.
So just keep experimenting.
Even if you have some mushypickle instances, you're going
(11:38):
to get into that grooveeventually and figure out what
works best for you.
To wrap it up, as silly as itmay seem to care about pickles
and how to make them crispy,these of little tricks and
kitchen knowhow are the thingswe've really lost as we have
(11:59):
moved away from growing our ownfood and making food from
scratch.
As you commit to learning thesethings, which don't take a lot
of time or a lot of effort, it'snot only going to make your
homemade food taste better, butit's going to help recapture
some of this lost knowledge thatyou can in turn pass on to your
(12:23):
kids or grandkids or anyone thatmaybe you're mentoring in the
art of homestead kitchen.
One of my favorite ways to makepickles or to preserve them is
to can them so we can fermentthem.
We can make refrigerator picklesbut canning is my favorite
(12:44):
method because it keeps them outof my refrigerator and they will
last on the shelf for a verylong time.
And in case you are wanting tocan but you didn't have a mom or
grandma to teach you the ropes.
I have got you covered.
I created a full ebook completewith all the details and
diagrams information you need toknow to start canning safely and
(13:09):
with competence.
Go to learnhowtocan.com for allthe details and some bonus
goodies as well.
That's www.learnhowtocan.com andthat is it.
My friends.
Thank you for listening.
If you have a minute, I would beso honored if you would just pop
(13:30):
over to iTunes and leave a quickreview so more people can find
this podcast and bringhomesteading into their lives.
Thanks for listening and I can'twait to catch up with you on the
next episode of the oldfashioned on purpose podcast.
Welcome to the old fashioned on purpose podcast.
In today's episode, we arediving into the problem that has
plagued pickle makers forcenturies.
How do you find a pickle recipethat results in perfectly crisp
cucumbers?
With that highly sought aftercrunch?
(00:21):
I'm excited to share my besttips with you today to make this
happen.
I'm your host Jill winger, andfor the last 10 years I've been
helping people just like you whofeel a little uninspired by
modern life.
I'll show you how to create thelife you really want by growing
(00:42):
your own food and mastering oldfashioned skills.
In the past when I go to makehomemade pickles and have the
cucumbers in the colander andbring the big pots out of the
basement, Christian, my husbandwould always raise an eyebrow
and say in this questioning toneof voice, they're going to be
(01:06):
crunchy pickles.
Right?
And I would respond with falseconfidence.
Sure.
Honey, you bet.
Honestly, it took me quiteawhile to figure out how to
actually get crunchy picklesbecause for the longest time I
(01:30):
was the queen of the smooshyones that you know are a little
soggy and a little mushy in thejar.
I tried all sorts of things overthe years.
I've made a lot of pickles.
For some reason cucumbers loveWyoming so they'd grow well
here.
And like anything else, I foundthat if you talk to a dozen
(01:51):
different people to get theirpickle making advice, you get a
dozen different answers.
So in my quest for the ultimatecrunchy pickle recipe, because
yes, I really do care about suchthings.
As silly as it sounds, I havecollected a number of little
tricks that I think might behelpful to you if you have this
(02:11):
same issue.
Now keep in mind you do not haveto use all of these tricks at
the same time, but mix and matchand use a combination of them
that suits your situation andthe cucumbers that you have
available.
So without further ado, here aremy five secrets for crunchy
(02:34):
homemade pickles.
Okay.
Number one is probably by farthe most important one on the
list.
Okay.
It is drum roll.
Please use small cucumbers.
I realize as I say this, this iseasier said than done.
(02:57):
Please tell me I'm not alonebecause year I grow cucumbers.
You know I plant them, they comeup, I weed them, I watch them,
there's no pickles in sight andI think in about another month
or two I'll be ready to startcanning.
We probably get some fruit onthe vine, you know, just going
to take awhile.
(03:17):
And then usually about a weekafter I think that I go out to
the garden and there arecucumbers, the size of baseball
bats laying there under theplants and I go, I do not know
how on earth they got therebecause a week ago there was
nothing.
Please tell me I'm all not alonewith this because it happens to
(03:38):
me every year.
It's almost getting embarrassingnow.
All that to say baseball batcucumbers do not make good
pickles.
You can do other things withthem.
Avoid pickles.
You really need to pick themwhen they're small and cute in
order for them to be crunchy.
(03:59):
Okay.
And it's kind of a natural law.
If you are using ginormousovergrown cucumbers for your
homemade pickles, nothing willturn them crunchy.
I don't care how many prayersyou say or how many tricks you
use.
They are just gonna be soft.
So tip number one means you haveto check your plants frequently,
(04:22):
which is something I'm stilltrying to learn how to do.
Or if you're getting picklesfrom the farmer's market or the
grocery store, make sure you areselecting pickling cucumbers.
It really does matter becauseyou know your traditional long,
big cucumbers you used forsalads, they're not firm and
(04:42):
they're just not gonna make asdesirable pickles.
So get pickling cucumbers andpick the small ones.
And I even squeeze them like asI'm picking them off the
farmer's market, a booth or I'mpicking them out of the garden.
I'm picking the ones that don'thave a lot of give when I
squeeze them.
And those are the ones I'm goingto prioritize turning into
(05:04):
pickles.
If you do end up in the gardenwith some big ginormous
cucumbers, even if they'repickling cucumbers, they're
still good for slicing.
My kids still eat them.
We still put them in salads.
There's still great with ranchdressing.
Just leave them out of the jars.
Okay.
Tip number two goes right alongwith number one.
(05:28):
Maybe not quite as crucial butstill pretty darn important and
that is to pickle themimmediately after picking or as
soon as possible.
If you can go straight from thevine to the jar, that is going
to set you up for the mostsuccess and the crunchiest
(05:51):
pickles.
When I'm growing cucumbers inthe garden and I know I'm going
to pick them, I try coordinatethe picking with the pickle
making on the same day ifpossible or the following day.
Now I realize if you're notgrowing them, you don't have
full control over when they'repicked.
So if you're at the farmer'smarket or the supermarket
(06:14):
shopping for pickling cucumbers,like I said before, you're going
to just check that the onesyou're getting are firm and hard
and small.
And then when you do get themhome, make sure you don't leave
them on the counter for days anddays before you get around to
pickling them.
The fresher, the better.
And that will give you thecrunchiest pickles in the end.
(06:38):
Okay.
Number three, soak yourcucumbers in an ice water bath
for a couple of hours beforecanning.
If I can't get to work on mypickles immediately after I get
them out of the garden or I gethome from the farmer's market, I
will put them in a bowl.
Or sometimes I'll put them in abig stockpot if I don't have
(06:58):
room for a giant bowl in thefridge and I'll put them in, put
cold water and a lot of ice andlet them soak.
And sometimes that's even a goodidea for a super fresh cucumbers
.
If you know you're canning inthe afternoon, just stick them
in the ice water bath in themorning.
And they just tend to firm upquite a bit during that ice bath
(07:21):
and that will definitely helpwith their crispness.
Okay.
These last two tips are a littlemore at your own discretion and
I think some of these have beenpassed around more a little bit
like old wives tales.
Maybe not completely, I haven'tseen as big of results from
(07:41):
doing these two things, but itdefinitely doesn't hurt.
So if you're just trying to setyourself up for the most success
possible with your pickles,doesn't hurt to try it.
Okay.
So number four, secret numberfour is to cut the blossom ind
off of the cucumber.
It is said, and again, I don'thave scientific research to back
(08:03):
this up, but it is said thatthat blossom end, which would be
the pickle, the part of thepickle that had, well sometimes
they get the, the yellowblossoms, it has enzymes in it
that can cause mushiness.
So trimming it off is your bestbet.
Um, when I have little tiny cutecucumbers, I don't always trim
(08:25):
this off unless it's a reallybig blossom there.
But for my more medium sizedcucumbers, I definitely just
trim it.
I don't take a lot of thecucumber off.
Just shave it off and call itgood.
Along with that one, numberfive, you can add tannins in the
jar.
So tannins are something that isfound naturally in oak leaves,
(08:51):
grape leaves, or in black tea.
Now I find this trick, when yougo online and search for crunchy
pickles, this trick is always,always, always recommended.
But I've honestly had pretty hitor miss results with it.
So if you have oak leaves orgrape leaves handy, you know, if
you have them growing outsideand it's easy for you to get
(09:13):
them, it definitely doesn't hurtto toss one in each jar or a
couple.
But I wouldn't go out of yourway or spend a lot of money
trying to get grape leavesshipped in.
Another option, if you want totry the whole tannin idea, but
you don't want to find grapeleaves, is to add a half
teaspoon of loose black tea toeach jar before you fill it up.
(09:40):
Again, it's not going to turnyour big smushy cucumbers into
crisp pickles, but if you justwant to give yourself a little
extra oomph, it's worth a tryand isn't going to cost you a
lot of time or money.
Now, back in the day and a lotof the old pickle recipes,
you'll see that it isrecommended to add alum or
(10:05):
food-grade lime to help withcrispness.
Alum is technically aluminum andit's not recommended anymore
just because now we know thataluminum in our food is really
bad for us and I don't likeusing any aluminum in my
kitchen, you know, aluminumdishes or pans.
I just always avoid it, so I'mreally not going to add it into
(10:28):
my pickles.
Therefore, I have no personaldata to share with you in the
interest of adding alum, but I'mpretty sure if you use the tips
above the five little tips Ijust shared, you're probably not
going to even need to consideralum or lime.
So just skip those.
All right, so let's say you useevery single trick I just told
(10:52):
you and you still get mushypickles because here's the deal.
Mushiness happens sometimes,even if you are doing everything
in your power to prevent it.
The good news is mushy picklesare still very edible and often
if I have bigger cucumbers thatI've canned just because they
(11:14):
are literally drowning me out ofmy kitchen and I have to do
something with them and I knowthey're going to be mushy.
I use those ones for justchopping up to add to potato
salad or relish or whatever, andI keep the smaller crispier ones
for just eating out of the jar.
So just keep experimenting.
Even if you have some mushypickle instances, you're going
(11:38):
to get into that grooveeventually and figure out what
works best for you.
To wrap it up, as silly as itmay seem to care about pickles
and how to make them crispy,these of little tricks and
kitchen knowhow are the thingswe've really lost as we have
(11:59):
moved away from growing our ownfood and making food from
scratch.
As you commit to learning thesethings, which don't take a lot
of time or a lot of effort, it'snot only going to make your
homemade food taste better, butit's going to help recapture
some of this lost knowledge thatyou can in turn pass on to your
(12:23):
kids or grandkids or anyone thatmaybe you're mentoring in the
art of homestead kitchen.
One of my favorite ways to makepickles or to preserve them is
to can them so we can fermentthem.
We can make refrigerator picklesbut canning is my favorite
(12:44):
method because it keeps them outof my refrigerator and they will
last on the shelf for a verylong time.
And in case you are wanting tocan but you didn't have a mom or
grandma to teach you the ropes.
I have got you covered.
I created a full ebook completewith all the details and
diagrams information you need toknow to start canning safely and
(13:09):
with competence.
Go to learnhowtocan.com for allthe details and some bonus
goodies as well.
That's www.learnhowtocan.com andthat is it.
My friends.
Thank you for listening.
If you have a minute, I would beso honored if you would just pop
(13:30):
over to iTunes and leave a quickreview so more people can find
this podcast and bringhomesteading into their lives.
Thanks for listening and I can'twait to catch up with you on the
next episode of the oldfashioned on purpose podcast.
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