How do cucumbers turn into pickles?
There are quite a few ways but some of the most common are brining in a mixture of salt water and spices. Some pickles need to be brined for a couple of weeks. The cukes need to be weighted down to keep them from being exposed to air. The ‘scum’ also needs to be removed daily. Other pickles are made sometimes quick brining – over night – then canning the next day, usually in a vinegar/spice mixture. Other variations are the bread and butter pickle that has a lot more sugar than vinegar. The best pickles are ones that start out being super fresh and not spongy. It’s much easier to pickle the small immature cucumbers that are called pickling cumbers. You can pickle mature cukes, but they won’t by crisp.
