That's the size of cuke I like for crock fermentation, if they have are not too far matured, i.e. if they are still solid and haven't started to ripen.

You need to ferment them whole. Take a thin slice off the blossom end and leave 1/4" of stem (no matter what Ken tells you, LOL).

The only cutting I do is to cut them into halves or spears for serving, if you don't want a whole one.

Jim

P.S. No malice toward Ken. It's just a reference to our long running debate on that little detail.

The big ones are good for relish, too.
I have not used them quite that large for the sweet pickle chunks, but they should work, but just expect them to have large seeds in the middles of them. They may be a bit softer, too, but I add Pickle Crisp to mine. That stuff does keep them crisp.

Relish is a good idea. Cut them open, and if the seeds are tough, cut these away before you pickle them. Because you allowed these to get very big, the rest of the cuke plants went to 'sleep', and slowed down production. Now that you picked these, you should soon be getting another big batch of cukes growing again. Cucumber plants will stop producing when there is a big 'watermelon' that has not been picked. You should get another full month from the plants. Cut off the stems or not, its your choice. I see no difference ether way, except for a recipe like Linda Lou's sweet pickle chunks, which she prefers to have the stem end left on.

I missed that part about the sweet chunks. My reply was for fermented dills.

I have not heard of fermenting cukes prior to making sweet pickles. Possibly I've missed something (it wouldn't surprise me). What is the purpose of that? Is it to hold them temporarily until you have accumulated enough? Commercial pickle makers hold cukes in mammoth tanks of strong brine. They don't ferment. When ready to pickle the cukes, they freshen them. If you want to know about this, do a Google search.

Jim

Linda Lou's sweet pickle recipe requires a salt brine soak before they are pickled in a sweet vinegar. The recipe is in another thread, as well as a link to it in a recent reply I made.

I make sweet pickles by an old recipe similar to Linda Lou's. They are salt brined for three days.

Carol

Ken
Linda Lou's chunk pickle recipe does not require a salt brine soak.

Nope, no salt, just boiling water to begin with. I do cut off the stem for the sweet pickles as well as the blossom end.

Thanks to all of you! I went ahead and skipped those particular ones for pickles this time. I'm giving them to friends at work instead ;) Great to know for future though! Because they are definatly still firm and solid.

Next year I'm definatly putting those suckers on a trellis! It's so hard to find them all spread out like they are!

The sweet pickle recipe that I'm using is one from my husbands grandmother. It's incredibly time consuming and starts off with a plain brine soak (no herbs) for *2* weeks prior. Then it'll take another 4 days or so to actually make the pickles themselves...it calls for boiling the syrup, pouring it over the sliced pickles - waiting a day - strain and repeat several times. :whew:

I'm sure I'll be asking more dumb questions. As some of you already know...this is my first year with a real garden and first time canning/preserving. :)

Thanks again!
Laura

It sounds similar to my recipe, though in mine the brining period is shorter. Mine are brined 1 week, boiling water 3 days, syrup (boiled with additional sugar each day) for 4 days. It is a 14-day pickle total.

Carol

Please clarify for me. Do the sweet pickle recipes which require brining result in fermentation? Two weeks would seem long enough to at least begin fermentation, although whether the cukes fermented would depend on the strength of the brine.

In other words, is the brine soak for fermentation or for some other purpose when making sweet pickles?

Jim

I am on day three of my Sweet Pickle Chunks. I bought a peck of culs for $3. at my neighborhood stand. A few of them were quite large, almost 2 inches. Most were small but crooked. If the large ones seem soft in the center when I cut them, I will discard that portion.
Price on perfect dill size was $15. The next size up was $11. Next week I'll do my Sweet Dills.
I'm trying Pickle Crisp for the first time although I never have a problem with soft pickles.