photo by: Courtesy of Mother Earth News

When it comes to making crispy pickles, heat is the enemy. But while you could guarantee crisp pickles by never subjecting them to heat, that would mean avoiding the canner, which is necessary for long-term storage.

When you’re making pickles from your surplus, the challenge becomes how to make and process them in a way that preserves their texture.

Crispness starts with growing the right kind of cultivars. In addition to growing cucumbers specially developed for pickling, I always grow some of the newer Chinese, Japanese and Middle Eastern cucumber cultivars, which tend to grow long, not fat, and are mostly seedless and thin-skinned.

During the growing season, be sure to pick early, pick often, pick small amounts, and keep the cucumbers chilled before pickling. These same rules hold true for green beans and other vegetables you pickle.

The blossom ends of cucumbers contain enzymes that speed softening. Be sure to cut those ends off before you start pickling. Can’t tell which is the blossom end? Cut both ends off. While many people put grape leaves in their canning jars to prevent softening, grape leaves only help because they contain an enzyme that counteracts the pickle-softening enzymes present in blossom ends. So, if you cut off the blossom ends, you won’t need to bother with grape leaves.

Never omit the following step: Soak the sliced cucumbers in an iced saltwater bath for two to six hours prior to canning. The salt draws some of the excess water from the cucumbers, resulting in a crisper pickle.

Adding a crisping agent is also helpful. Ball Canning makes a product called Pickle Crisp (pelletized calcium chloride, a naturally occurring calcium salt). The calcium binds with the pectin in the cell walls and stiffens the vegetables. Be sure to follow the package directions.

Canning will soften the pickles — there’s no getting around it. However, using a steam canner exposes the jars to less heat, because it takes less time for the water to start boiling. The result is a crisper pickle.

Classic Bread and Butter Pickles

Yields 1 pint.

Ingredients:

2 1⁄4 to 2 1⁄2 cups thinly sliced pickling cucumbers

1⁄2 small onion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon pickling salt or fine sea salt

1⁄2 cup cider vinegar

1⁄3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1⁄4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon mixed pickling spices

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1⁄2 teaspoon celery seeds

1⁄8 teaspoon Pickle Crisp granules

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the cucumbers, onion, and salt. Mix well. Cover the vegetables with ice water and let stand for at least 2 hours, or up to 6 hours. Drain. Taste the cucumbers; if they’re not decidedly salty, toss them with an additional 1 to 2 teaspoons salt.

In a nonreactive saucepan, combine the cider vinegar, brown sugar, and turmeric. Bring to a boil. In a separate pot, bring about a cup of water to a boil.

Pack mixed pickling spices, mustard seeds and celery seeds into a clean, hot, pint-sized canning jar. Pack in the cucumbers and onions and pour in the vinegar mixture. The vinegar mixture won’t cover the vegetables, so top them off with boiling water, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles, add Pickle Crisp granules and seal.

Process in a steam canner for 10 minutes. Store in a cool, dry place. Allow to ferment for 6 weeks before opening.

Dill Chips

Yields 1 pint.

Ingredients:

2 1⁄4 to 2 1⁄2 cups thinly sliced pickling cucumbers

1⁄2 small onion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon pickling salt

6 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

6 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon dill seeds

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill

3 garlic cloves

1⁄2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1⁄2 teaspoon black peppercorns

1⁄8 teaspoon Pickle Crisp granules

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the cucumbers, onion and salt, and mix well. Cover the vegetables with ice water and let stand for at least 2 hours, or up to 6 hours. Drain. Taste the cucumbers; if they don’t taste salty enough, add 1 to 2 teaspoons salt.

In a nonreactive saucepan, combine the white vinegar, water and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring well to dissolve the sugar.

Add the dill, garlic cloves, mustard seeds and black peppercorns into a clean, hot, pint-sized canning jar. Pack in the cucumbers and pour in the vinegar mixture, leaving about 1⁄2 inch headspace. Remove any air bubbles, add Pickle Crisp granules and seal.

Process in a steam canner for 10 minutes. Store in a cool, dry place. Allow to ferment for 6 weeks before opening.