How do you pickle a cucumber?
How do you pickle a cucumber?
#0How do you pickle a cucumber?
Posted: 8/15/06 at 12:24am
Pickles start out as cucumbers, I know. But what is the process by which cucumbers are pickled? Is it a boiling process? And also, why do the cucumbers become smaller once they're pickled? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
#1re: How do you pickle a cucumber?
Posted: 8/15/06 at 12:27am
Most commonly, they are simply washed and packed in a solution of vinegar, water, and salt. They shrink because the salt content of the solution is hydrophilic, which means it draws water from the cellular structure of the cucumber, which renders it smaller and denser. (Same reason you salt your raw eggplant, or you SHOULDN'T put salt on your meat before you cook it...it sucks out all the water.)
#2re: How do you pickle a cucumber?
Posted: 8/15/06 at 12:29am
Ahh Jaily, I should have to known to have just asked you. 
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
#3re: How do you pickle a cucumber?
Posted: 8/15/06 at 12:31am
I'm always here to help :-P
(the boiling process that you refer to, btw, is what differentiates canning from pickling. My grandmother used to spend ALL SUMMER canning vegetables from her garden...mmm, slice of rural life.)
Chloe
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/28/04
#4re: How do you pickle a cucumber?
Posted: 8/15/06 at 12:35amI was curious too, so I looked it up. It turns out that the pickling process is also a form of fermentation, like making yogurt, cheese and wine. That's another reason they're not boiled, because it would kill off the microorganisms.
Videos