Knowing how to make pickles is a skill every home-gardener or homesteader should have. Come see which canning method kept my pickles the crunchiest one year after preserving them!
Pickled cucumbers may be one of my favorite preserves that comes out of the garden, but then again, between the homemade fruit leather, the tangy and salty sauerkraut, and easy fermented tomatoes, it’s pretty hard to choose!
If you love crispy, crunchy pickles, even after they’ve been sitting on your pantry shelf for a year, then this is the recipe and method for canning pickles that you’ve been looking for!
Pickling cucumbers are a beloved vegetable for home gardeners looking to make their own pickles, relishes, and other pickled products. But knowing when to harvest pickling cucumbers at their peak size is key to getting the right texture and flavor in your finished pickles. In this guide, we’ll look at the ideal size for pickling cucumbers, techniques for achieving proper growth, and tips for harvesting at just the right time.
Typical Size Range for Pickling Cucumbers
Most pickling cucumber varieties are bred to fall within a target size range when mature This ensures they are the perfect size and texture for the pickling and preservation process
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Small-fruited pickling cucumber varieties typically reach 3 to 5 inches in length when mature and ready to harvest. Popular small-fruited varieties include Calypso, Little Leaf H-19, and Bush Pickle.
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Standard pickling cucumbers usually grow to 4 to 6 inches long at maturity. Kirbys, National Picklers, and Boston Pickling are examples of standard-sized pickling cucumber varieties.
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Even large pickling types usually max out around 6 to 8 inches long. Though they can be pickled when small, large fruited picklers like Harvester and Regal can be used for fresh eating at larger sizes.
So in most cases, 3 to 6 inches is the ideal target length for peak flavor and texture in pickling cucumbers.
Factors Affecting Pickling Cucumber Size
Several key factors influence the ultimate size your pickling cucumbers will reach, including:
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Variety – Be sure to select an appropriate pickling cucumber variety suited to your desired finished size.
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Growing conditions – Picklers need consistent moisture and good nutrition to reach their full potential size. Hot, dry conditions can cause slower growth.
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Plant spacing – Allow enough space between plants to reduce competition for light and nutrients. Crowding causes smaller fruits.
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Time to maturity – Don’t allow cucumbers to stay on the vine past their days to maturity or they can become oversized.
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Pruning and training – Trellising and pruning optimize plant energy going into fruit production rather than vegetation.
When to Harvest Pickling Cucumbers
Timing your harvests is one of the most important factors for getting pickling cucumbers at their prime.
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For highest quality pickles, harvest cucumbers early in the morning when they are most crisp.
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Check plants daily as fruits are nearing maturity and harvest promptly when they reach the target size range.
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Smaller is generally better than larger for pickling. Don’t allow cucumbers to over-mature as they will become seedy and lose texture.
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Harvest fruits by snipping or cutting them from the vine, retaining a short stem attached to each cucumber.
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Handle harvested cucumbers gently to avoid bruising that can lead to soft pickles.
Using Harvested Pickling Cucumbers
Once you’ve harvested your pickling cucumbers at their peak, proper handling is critical for maintaining quality until you’re ready to pickle them.
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Keep just-picked cucumbers in the shade or refrigerated at 45 to 50°F.
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Wash cucumbers just before pickling, not at harvest time.
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Pickle cucumbers within a day of harvesting for optimal freshness and firmness.
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Sort cucumbers by size when pickling batches, ensuring uniformity in the brining and fermenting process.
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Trim off any oversized ends or damaged portions before pickling.
Pickling Prep for Proper Texture
Proper preparation steps when pickling will also help maintain that crisp crunch:
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Cut 1/16 inch off the blossom end of each cucumber before pickling to expose the interior flesh to brine.
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Be sure cucumbers are fully submerged in brine during fermentation. Use weights if needed.
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For canned pickles, cut into spears or slices rather than pickling whole for the best texture.
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Set aside and pickle separately any overly mature cucumbers, which will soften more quickly.
Key Takeaways on Pickling Cucumber Size
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Look for fruits 3 to 6 inches long at maturity depending on variety.
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Harvest daily as cucumbers reach ideal size to prevent over-ripening.
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Handle with care and refrigerate promptly after picking.
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Pickle as soon as possible, within 1 day of harvest.
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Prepare cucumbers properly before brining to maximize crisp texture.
Using these guidelines for monitoring and harvesting pickling cucumbers at their peak will help you achieve the signature crunch that makes homemade pickles so satisfying. With the right techniques, you’ll be able to enjoy the fruits of your planting labors with delicious firm pickles all season long.
Preparing Cucumbers for Pickles
Making pickles at home is such a fun thing to do and it’s so great to have homemade pickles sitting on your pantry shelf whenever you need them.
To make the best pickles there are some general techniques to follow to ensure you end up with a great quality pickle.
As soon as you bring your cucumbers in from the garden or home from the market you’ll want to get them into a cold brine. In order to do this, there is one important step you must not skip.
Common Crunchy Pickle Tips
If you’ve researched at all on how to keep pickles crunchy when canning, you’ve surely heard of the following tips:
- Use the freshest cucumbers possible.
- Add tannins such as grape leaves or horseradish leaves.
- Cut off the blossom end of the cucumber before pickling.
- Keep your pickles cold or soak them in ice water before canning.
But even after following all these tips, I still have pickles that aren’t crunchy after canning, especially months and months after canning.
Last year I tried five different methods for canning pickles to find the very best method that would leave me with delicious and crispy pickles a year later.
I tried five different methods for canning dill pickles so I could do a side-by-side comparison, one year later, to see which method truly left me with the crunchiest, most flavorful, and most delicious homemade pickles.
- Canned Kosher Dill Pickles – these are just a quick pickle that’s canned in brine. They’re very dilly and flavorful, but not very crisp.
- Long Fermented then Canned Pickles – These are pickles that I fermented, then canned. I’m not a fan of this method and, in fact, didn’t even want to eat them after they were canned!
- Fermented/Soaked Canned Pickle – These pickles were a little bit better, but lacked flavor and still weren’t very crunchy.
- Long Brine Pickles – These pickles were very nice and crisp after a year. The flavor was pretty tasty, but definitely not my favorite flavor out of the five.
- Low-Temperature Pasteurization Method – This method surprised me because of how simple it is (especially when using an electric canner) and how delicious, flavorful, and crunchy the pickles are even one year after being canned!
How to grow and Harvest Pickling Cucumbers
FAQ
How to know when pickling cucumbers are ready to pick?
Gherkins and other pickling cucumbers are typically nice and crunchy as soon as they’re just 1½ inch long and best if harvested before they reach 4 inches. Slicing cucumbers and burpless varieties are best when harvested between 6 and 8 inches long. English cucumbers are ripe when they’re between 10 and 18 inches long.May 15, 2024
How big should I let pickling cucumbers get?
Start harvesting pickler cucumbers when they are 2 to 3 inches long, and don’t let the fruit grow to more than 4 or 5 inches long. Picklers tend to flabbiness in the middle when allowed to get too big. None is particularly long-lived in the fridge.
Can you eat overgrown pickling cucumbers?
The overgrown cucumbers have a nice thick boarder of flesh. A regular sized cucumber has a thinner boarder & is much smaller in size. It’s important to have those thick large slices so they don’t break apart easily during the process & so they are a good finger food size for eating later. The bigger the better!
How big do pickled cucumbers get?
National Pickling Cucumber can be harvested at 2-3″ for gherkin-style pickles, or allowed to reach 4-5″ for fresh eating.
How big does a pickling cucumber grow?
Calypso, Royal, and H-19 Little Leaf are picklers that grow to just around 4 to 6 feet (1-2 m.) in length. If this seems too large, train the vine to grow back in on itself to conserve space. Also, consider growing pickling cucumbers vertically if space is at a premium. Pickalot and National Pickling are revered pickling cukes.
How do you know if a cucumber is pickling?
That and their small size which means there is little prep work involved. Pickling cucumbers are short with graduating hues of dark green at the stem to light green at the blossom end. Cucumbers have tenacious tendrils that grasp onto fences or trellises easily.
How long does it take to grow a pickling cucumber?
Cucumbers, pickling or otherwise, are prodigious producers. Pickling cucumbers should be ready to harvest between 50 and 65 days from planting and can be picked over the course of a several weeks. Growing pickling cucumber plants is just like growing other types of cucumber. They prefer a soil pH of 5.5, well-drained soil, and lots of nitrogen.
What are the best pickling cucumber varieties?
When I’m looking to plant pickling cucumbers, I gravitate towards dependable varieties such as Calypso, H-19 Little Leaf, National Pickling, Boston Pickling, and the ever-popular Kirby cucumbers. For more compact gardens, dwarf varieties like Bush Pickle hybrid or Pickalot offer bountiful harvests without taking up much space.
How big should a cucumber be when slicing?
When harvested, slicing cucumbers are normally 5 to 8 inches long. They can be one inch or more in diameter and are the bigger of the two cucumber types. They grow long and lean, but some people harvest them when small to use for pickling. (Source: Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension)
What are cucumbers for pickling?
Cucumbers for pickling refer to cucumbers that are used for processing or making pickles. This doesn’t mean they can’t be eaten fresh, but their thinner skins, crunchy texture, and smaller seeds make them ideal for pickling. That and their small size which means there is little prep work involved.