I wish I could see your pickles. Did you use cucumbers or a pickling type pickle? Pickling types are more dense in the center with much smaller seeds. If the cukes were larger they may tend to hollow out some. All may not be lost. I would cut the cukes in half lengthwise. If the center is soft and the fleshy part near the rind is firm, I would scoop out the center with a teaspoon or melon ball-er and discard and cut the remainder into chunks about half inch or so and continue with the syrup.
Let us know what you do.

These were very small (6" and under) hybrid burpless cukes- normally not a pickling type but all I had. In a previous post everyone agreed that they could be used so I thought I'd give it a go. I could take a picture but not sure how I would post it? In any case, will wait til this evening (the silly cukes are going to take that long to drain the water out of their insides anyhow) and make my final decision based on the feed back here. Thanks again!

They should change color in the water. I think your cucumbers were hollow to begin with. They float when they are hollow. That is how a person should "test" them as they are washed, put in water and see if they float.
I agree w/ Shirley, if they are firm, then I think you could do as she said. If soft, then throw away. I would cut into about 3/4 inch chunks if you are going to keep them.

Ok, I suppose this is a question I should be posting in the vegetable forum instead, but what on earth would cause ALL of them to be hollow when thus far none of my cukes have been? (When I first started there were only a couple that were floating- not all of them) They aren't soft but certainly not crispy? I'd say rubbery if I had to give them a texture. Is it normal for hollow cukes to absorb all the water and pour it out everywhere when you slice them?

You can use the cucumbers for pickles. If they are hollow, it was due to the growing conditions or they were kept too long before using . They should be used within 24 hours of being picked.
Poorly developed cucumbers may cause hollow pickles. Check whole cucumbers during washing. The hollow cucumbers usually float. These should be taken out and used in relishes of "chunk" style pickles.

BURPLESS CUCUMBERS

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"Acid-free" burpless cucumbers can be used for making
pickles.

Here is a link that might be useful: MSUE food safety

Some strains of pickling cukes do not float, no matter if they are totally solid or not. Its not really a good way to tell, just by what floats. About all you can do is to cut them open when its time, and there you should see what the insides look like. I had a couple very small (only 3 inch) pickling cukes with a couple of small holes inside, right off the vine. These are sometimes noticable if the cukes are a very dry strain too. The burpless ones are not very good for picking as they do conatin a softer inside as well as more water. If the cukes are more than about 2-3 days old after picking, they will soften quite a lot in a brine, and will remain rubbery

I have never seen that happen before, I am sorry. The hollow ones I have had have only been just hollow when I cut them, not pour water out.
I know you can use the burpless cukes for pickles, as in the link above in my other post.

I know this is an old thread, but I was searching for help/info on the LL sweet pickles and have a question.

You guys say that hollow cukes float, but none of the cukes I bought to make pickles this week floated. Half of the cukes (yes they were pickling and firm and small) were made into hot garlic dill spears. Not a single one of these were hollow.
The other half went to Linda Lou's sweet chunks. Not a one floated when cleaned, etc. Now on the day when I cut them into chunks, every single one is hollow through the middle and filled with water (just like above problem).
This is actually the second time I made this recipe and had this happened. The first time (last fall) I thought just old/bad cukes and decided to wait to make more until now when all the fresh new ones are popping, but it happened again.
any thoughts?

kendra

This hollowness may be a condition which could be from the strain of cukes grown. Because most cukes tend to need a lot more water to grow, in order for them to become long. Also, there are a few types that farmers prefer to grow that are long keepers, which, in turn, could have less water content. The hollow cukes I have seen are usually ones that the seeds are seperated in triangular rows inside. This same condition sometimes shows up in overripe watermelons too. Keep in mind that if your making pickled cucumbers, and even though they may be fresh, the person who grows them may be choosing a strain that gives better yields, but need less care and watering. Simply an economic issue, at the expense of those who pickle cukes at home. When I grow them, I usually choose varieties like the Heinz, or county fair types, which are of a strains that are firm and solid. Another issue with cukes is bitterness, and the ones I have grown have also had a few bitter ones. I've read a lot about this and it seems to affect almost all varieties when the plants are in the earlier production. Hybrids are Ok for somthing things, but you need to find out what is the actual type your farmer or supplier is growing. There is nothing more disappointing then biting into a pickled bitter cuke. Sometimes it tends to make the whole jar unpleasent tasting. I was almost tempted to taste a small amount of each cuke before its put in a jar, but if you have a bushel or more to work on, that would be a bit much. Even for that, if you do find a bitter tasting one, your taste buds are not going to be able to easily detect a sweet one afterwards. My grandmother used to cut off an end and rub the two cut pieces together and see if there was a clear color liquid, or a whitish slime. If they showed the white slime, she didn't use that one. Not sure if this was really a way to tell though.

I have never had that happen to mine. Did you trim off the blossom end by 1/ 16th of an inch before you put them in the water ? The enzymes in the blossom end can cause spoilage. Other than that, I just don't know since you used the same cucumbers as the others that turned out fine. Did you also make them both the same day ? If the cukes are left too long they can become hollow.

I did not trim the blossom end until the day that I cut them into chunks and put them into syrup, but I thought that was previously discussed here and decided it was okay. Plus I didn't want the flesh exposed to boiling water for extended periods like that. So I left them whole, however I have made several batches of these pickles like that with no problems.

To answer the second thought, I did process all the pickles the same day. I made the hot garlic dills, and then started the boiling water process for the sweets.

I know there is probably no real answer for this but it is soo frustrating to spend all that money on the cukes and have the batch of pickles be a waste. I can't test them at the market to see if they float, or taste bitter, or give off a slime (atleast not every cuke). I just have to go on feel and looks and buy them. Once I have them home, I have to do something with them, and one person can only eat sooo much relish....:)

anyway, I will keep trying because when that sweet recipe turns out for me it is wonderful and I have several addicted people that keep me making them again and again. However, after you spent all that time and money and they don't turn out, it is just soooo sad...

kendra

I buy my cucumbers also. I've found it helpful to ask when they were picked and if they're too old to arrange that they notify me when a fresh picking comes in. Farmer's markets and small markets are pretty good about doing this.

Carol

Cukes are easy to grow yourself. If you have space outside. The ones I grew last summer were enough to make more than 40 quarts of assorted pickles. The amount of plants was about 35 or so, in a row of 2 feet wide, and 18 foot long. There is nothing fresher than picking a batch, bring them in, and start the pickling process.

Well, the hollow batch has not shriveled yet, so there is hope. Tomorrow night is canning night..:)

I know cukes are easy to grow, I actually love growing them, but events have conspired against me for the last few years. My raised bed with trellis is now completely a shade bed due to a neighbors tree and up until this year I only had one other raised bed that got all the chile peppers and tomatoes. Plus after growing cukes in the same spot for several years, I developed a rather severe cucumber beetle problem where they started to affect other veggies in the garden.
So I decided to not grow them for a few years and give it a rest. Probably in the future will grow them again.

Carol-that is a good idea, and we have several farmer's markets along with a small produce oriented grocery store that I can check with. MIght be the way to go for this years pickles.

thanks everyone

kendra

Had cuke beetles here too, the striped ones. Found a site that has both lures and yellow sticky traps that catch these guys. Last years crop was really good, and I was able to get a much longer season with less downey or powdery mildew. I sprayed the cuke leaves with Serenade Solutions, and it helped keep cukes coming. Cukes may be fine in partial shade too, as mine only get sun from the rise to about 2-3 PM.

This is an old thread, but I had a followup question. I didn't know about taking out cukes that floated first, so I didn't even check for that when I first poured the boiling water over the whole cukes. I also decided to make these a bit late in the year, and my selection of cucumbers was limited. I ended up with cukes that weren't all the same size or shape, though they were all fresh, less than 6" long and mostly a nice medium to dark green.

When I cut the cukes, many had hollows. I went ahead and kept them and put the syrup over them. I'm on Day 7 now, and I tasted them -- they're crisp and delicious, but many of them do have hollows. Should I remove the chunks that have hollows, or can I just keep going with all of them?

Also, some of my cukes were oddly-shaped -- one end smaller than the other, for instance, and the larger end had lots of seeds. Now the chunks that had more seeds are sort of shrinking in the middle. Again, they still taste good and are very crisp. Any reason not to continue with the recipe and can them all? Should I sort them as I put them into jars so that one jar has all small, seedless, not hollow chunks, another jar has all large, seedy chunks, another jar has all hollow chunks, etc., or does it matter (other than looking nice)?

Next year, I'm going to start earlier and look for cukes that are all the same diameter as each other as well as the same length and not oddly shaped. But if the pickles are progressing well, is there any reason not to continue with the process?

No, they're fine, it's just for looks. If you do find any soft ones, throw those away and keep the rest.

You did a good thing posting in an existing thread instead of starting a new one, but I started reading this and thought Ken was back, then saw the date of his post and was sad. Sending good thoughts his way...if he's being bossed around by doctors I'm sure he could use them.

Melissa

Melissa, thanks! I'm relieved there's no issue -- I've thrown out two batches of canning this year already, and it's such a drag to see work (and food!) go down the drain.

I'm trying hard to find info in older threads and post there, but sometimes it does seem weird to resurrect a thread that's over a year old! :D