What to do with Overripe Cucumbers

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So you come home from a few days away and find these waiting in your cucumber patch. Should you throw them on the compost pile or is there something you can do with them?  My Danish friend Lisbeth shared this recipe with me a few years ago and I now share my overripe cucumbers with her so we can both make up a batch of delicious pickles.  First you peel and split the cucumbers lengthwise then scoop out the seeds.  I call this the “dugout canoe step.”

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You then put them in a non-reactive pan, salting each layer generously, and let them sit for 24 hours.  After 24 hours they have generated a lot of moisture.  Rinse each one off with fresh water and let them drain (or pat them dry).

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Next mix up a simple sweet and sour pickling liquid of equal parts sugar and white vinegar and add pickling spice.  For these (about 3 pounds) I used 3 C. sugar to 3 C. vinegar and a tbsp. of pickling spice.  Bring the pickling liquid to a boil and slip in as many pieces as will fit loosely.  When the liquid returns to the boil, remove the pieces and pack them loosely in sterilized jars.

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When all the pieces are in the jars, fill the jars with the remaining pickling liquid and add a sprig of fresh dill to each jar.  How you seal the jars depends on how you plan to keep them.  They keep forever in the refrigerator or you can put them through the canning procedure to seal them for storage at room temperature.

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Five to ten minutes in a boiling water bath ensures a good seal.  If you like a bit of “zing” in your pickles you can add a few more red pepper flakes to the pickling liquid.  The Danes add peeled baby onions to the mix.  After two weeks they are ready to eat.  Pull out a “canoe” and slice it as you wish.  The flavor is like a softer watermelon pickle.  Yum!

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17 Responses so far »

  1. 1

    I’m so sorry you are having so many ads. I don’t see any for some reason. I just made these pickles yesterday so my recollection is for about four pounds, that you peel them, split them lengthwise, scrape out seeds and sprinkle about 1 tbsp kosher salt over them, shake to distribute salt and let sit overnight. This time I cut them into 1/2 inch crosswise slices for convenience although the recipe leaves them whole. In the morning drain and rinse. Boil 2 cups white vinegar and pour over cucumbers and let them sit for 20 to 30 minutes tossing occasionally. Meanwhile make the pickling solution which is just 3 c sugar, 3 c vinegar and a tbsp of pickling spices. Boil up this solution, add the cucumbers and bring it back to a boil. As soon as it boils for the second time remove the cucumbers. You can just keep them in a jar in the refrigerator, covering them with the pickling solution, or can them processing them for 5 minutes. I add a head of dill to each jar and I added a few more red pepper flakes to hotten it up.

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  2. 2

    Daniel Zittle said,

    ty i,ll try this

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  3. 4

    […] out sickens you more than eating them “old cucumber soup” is an old Chinese recipe. Here’s a recipe that calls for hollowing the cukes out and then pickling them. There are other pickling recipes out […]

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  4. 5

    Roxy said,

    So processing the pickles this way doesn’t make them a soft or soggy pickle? Another question…could you do this with the skins still on but de-seed and quarter them in a batch of dill pickling spices or does it need the sugar? Im asking because we have some ginormous cucumbers after we got back from vaca and it would be a shame to waste them and I love me some super sour pickles which I have the recipe for.

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    • 6

      I have only tried them as in the recipe. They do turn out to be crispy, sort of like watermelon rind pickles. If you do try your recipe, let us know how it turns out. I’d definitely scrape out the seeds, no matter what.

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  5. 7

    tamarque said,

    Is there any reason to use sugar????? I don’t like to use it and want to ferment my big yellow cukes?

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  6. 9

    Adina said,

    How much water do you add to the pickling liquid, apart from vinegar and sugar? Thanks!

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  7. 13

    Megan said,

    Is there no salt in this recipe?

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  8. 16

    Angela said,

    Just wondering if you sit them in the fridge for the 24hrs or on the counter??

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