Reviews
Part of Kimchi as the third vegetable ferment: short, then refrigerated
Why texture in a vegetable ferment gets decided at the shop, not the crock
Vegetable ferment ideas buying: texture is decided at the shop, not in the crock. The sizes, varieties, wax rules, and timing that separate a crisp fermented pickle.
What to take away
- Size is a specification, not a preference. Gherkins want cucumbers about 1-1/2 inches; dills want 4 inch fruit.
- Avoid commercially waxed cucumbers. Pickling liquid cannot penetrate the wax.
- Buy for the same day. Cucumbers picked early and used within 24 hours give the best quality.
- Oddly shaped and more mature cucumbers are not waste. They are relish and bread-and-butter material.
Buy by size, not by bag
The National Center for Home Food Preservation's note on selecting fresh cucumbers gives the quantities and the sizes together. Select firm cucumbers of the appropriate size, about 1-1/2 inches for gherkins and 4 inches for dills, and use odd-shaped and more mature cucumbers for relishes and bread-and-butter style pickles.
Cucumber quantities and sizes
- 1-1/2 ingherkin size
- 4 indill size
- 14 lbfills 7 quarts
- 9 lbfills 9 pints
For canner planning, an average of 14 pounds fills a canner load of 7 quarts and 9 pounds fills 9 pints. A bushel weighs 48 pounds and yields 16 to 24 quarts, roughly 2 pounds per quart.
Those numbers are worth carrying to a farm stand. Buying by the bushel without them is how people end up with 40 pounds of cucumbers and one crock.
The checklist at the stall
- Firm, unblemished, no soft spots or mold
- Uniform size within the batch, so they ferment at the same rate
- Pickling varieties, not slicing or salad cucumbers
- Unwaxed
- Picked that morning if you can find out
Why wax and variety matter more than they sound
Oregon State University Extension's guide to pickling vegetables repeats the same points and adds the reasoning. Avoid commercially waxed cucumbers because pickling liquid cannot penetrate the wax easily. Pick cucumbers early in the morning and use within 24 hours for best quality. Select cucumbers of similar size. Trim off the blossom end, which may contain enzymes that soften pickles.
Slicing cucumbers are bred for thin skins and high water content in a salad, not for holding structure through three weeks in brine. Substituting them is the most common reason a first batch comes out limp.
Cabbage has its own specification
For kraut, choose firm, mature heads from mid or late season crops, discard outer leaves, and remove the core. Late-season cabbage is traditional, and shredding should start within a day or two of harvest.
A 1 gallon container holds 5 pounds of shredded cabbage, while a 5 gallon crock holds 25 pounds. These amounts set how much you should buy.
| Vegetable | What to specify |
|---|---|
| Cucumbers for dills | Pickling variety, 4 inch, unwaxed |
| Cucumbers for gherkins | Pickling variety, about 1-1/2 inch |
| Cabbage for kraut | Firm, mature, mid or late season |
| Napa cabbage for kimchi | Compact heads, heavy for their size |
Buy the container before the vegetables
The vessel decides the batch size, and the batch size decides the shopping list. Work backward from what you own, not from what looks good at the market. A crock you do not have is not a reason to buy 40 pounds of cabbage. A half-full crock ferments worse than a full one because the surface area is wrong.
Our short list of vegetable ferments covers which projects to plan for, and the tasting flight method covers how to judge whether the produce choice worked.
