Q: How do I keep cucumbers crisp?
A: It goes with the supermarket territory that you are going to mostly be exposed to crisp, store-bought, unrefrigerated, full sour pickles. This might be more than you bargain for, as the chemicals used to make them crisp are also found in chemistry labs. Yet, with half sour, brine pickles crispness can be enhanced, but not maintained for the life of the pickle. Here’s how:
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Fresher cukes will make crisper pickles
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Don’t slice the cucumbers before pickling them
Here is a trick to increase crispness of veggies:
Make a strong, temporary brine and soak the untrimmed cucumbers. Use 1/3 cup inexpensive salt dissolved in 1 quart of water. Soak the untrimmed cucumbers for 30 minutes then discard the brine. Rinse them and trim just the very tips on both ends (a mold spore hideout)
Pack them into the fermentor, unsliced
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Ferment for four or more days, then refrigerate
- Eat them young and often