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Vegetable Gardening

Best way to store fresh picked cukes?

16 years ago

This is my first year growing cucumbers, english and japanese varieties. They are really starting to produce, more now than I can use at once. SO, what is the best way to store them??? Is there a good way so that they don't just sit on my countertop and get rubbery?

Thanks so much!!!!!!!

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Comments (7)

digdirt2
16 years ago
In a ziplock bag in the veggie drawer of the fridge they will keep for a few (3-4) days but they won't store for long without deteriorating. So you need to pickle them in some way, sell them, or give them away. ;) The Harvest Forum here at GW has lots of great recipes for using them.

Dave
daveohio
16 years ago
Here is a recipe you can use for pickling...It works well for anything you want to pickle.

For quart Jars add the following to each jar:
1 teaspoon Pickle crisp
1 teaspoon Pickling spice
2 Tablepoons sugar

Pack peppers or cucumbers in jar.

Fill to 1/2" of jar top with hot white vinegar.

Process 10 minutes in water bath

Sometimes I leave the pickling spice out, and add some crushed garlic to the vinegar wihile I am heating it up. Make sure and fish the vinegar out before you pour it in the jar.

dave
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anniew
16 years ago
What is Pickle Crisp?
aka_peggy
16 years ago
This will be my 1st year using "Pickle Crisp" at the recommendation of someone on the harvest forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pickle Crisp
justaguy2
16 years ago
The way I store cukes is pretty straight forward. I don't know how long they will keep fresh as I don't generally store them more than a few-several days before using, but I suspect at least a week.

After picking I get them into an ice bath right away. As soon as they are picked the quicker they are cooled down, the longer they last. I leave them in the ice bath for at least 10 minutes. I then give each one a quick shake and put them in a ziplock freezer bag, suck the air out of it and seal. I just use my mouth to suck out the air, I don't have one of those sealer machines ;-)

They then go ice cold and moist into the crisper drawer of the fridge.

The whole key is cooling them down as quickly as possible and then storing them in a cold, humid environment.
aka_peggy
16 years ago
Justaguy,

I never heard of placing cukes in an ice bath to prolong storage but it sounds like a good idea. My cukes always start to deteriorate by the 3rd-4th day. It's frustrating when you're trying to get enough for a batch of pickles.
raisemybeds
16 years ago
If you're storing them for pickling, that's one thing, and I cannot help you because I don't pickle (yet). What I have been doing in my own house is washing and slicing the cucumbers as soon as I harvest them, then putting them in a large plastic bowl with lid through which the contents can be seen. I place this on one of the top shelves of the fridge (eye level) in the center, so that when teens and friends of teens open the fridge the cukes are an automatic "suggestion" for that perfect snack they are always seeking. I also have a bowl of fresh dip nearby, so they think they discovered something unique and tasty, but it was my plan all along. It works well. We are putting away at least 6 big ones daily right now. No need to figure out long-term storage. And I have given away some surplus too.

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