Regular cukes will soften quickly, and because the skins are so thick they will be tougher to enjoy. When I buy cukes for salads, I use pickling types as their skins are very thin and crisp, and are not needed to be peeled off. Can't say the same about regular cukes, as they would be like biting into a hard tough skin, and softer inside. Pickling cukes are the #1 choice and MUST be used immediately after picking!! to get the best texture. Chilling in ice water can help to recrisp them, but its short term only, and will not fix/replace an older cukes' texture, or to get to be crisp again for a longer time. If sunken, rubbery, soft, old, they are not going to be as good for making crisp pickles. Long English cukes (sport), are usually sold in a shrink wrapped plastic. The reason is simple. If left out to air they dry out very fast and you end up with a poor texture again. They are bred to offer the softest skins that are found on all cukes. I wouldn't use any English cukes for pickles, but they are decent in fresh salads however. As to the crocks, you may want to see if cheap the lead tst kits used for tsting paint might work. A tiny chip of the glaze may be a way to see if the sample shows positive for lead. I think crocks made before 1960-1970 are are questionable, but correct me if I am wrong.

Another recipe question--this one is from assorted Extension websites (Missouri, Colorado) so it would normally be considered tested/safe. But it has less than a 50/50 ratio of vinegar to water. What makes that OK in this case? Is it the brining? I'd love to understand the chemistry a bit better! * 8 pounds of 3-inch to 5-inch pickling cucumbers * 2 gallons water * 1-1/4 cups canning or pickling salt * 1-1/2 quarts vinegar (5 percent) * 1/4 cup sugar * 2 quarts water * 2 tablespoons whole mixed pickling spice * 3 tablespoons whole mustard seed (1 teaspoon per pint jar) * 14 heads fresh dill (2 heads per pint jar) or 4-1/2 tablespoons dill seed (1-1/2 teaspoons per pint jar) Yield: 9 pints or 4 quarts Procedure: Cut 1/16-inch slice off blossom ends and discard, but leave 1/4 inch of cucumber stem ends attached. Dissolve 3/4 cup salt in two gallons of water. Pour brine water over cucumbers and let stand 12 hours. Drain. Combine vinegar, 1/2 cup salt, sugar and two quarts water. Add mixed pickling spices tied in a spice bag or cheesecloth bag. Heat to boiling. Fill jars with pickles. Add 1 teaspoon mustard seed and 1-1/2 heads fresh dill (or 1-1/2 teaspoons of dill seed) per pint. Cover with boiling liquid; leave 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids, and process jars as described in Table 1. Or, use the low-temperature pasteurization treatment.

You can yes but it is a different measurement and will give a very different appearance since the weed floats and clings to everything and it will change the flavor. The best results would be to get the seed. Dave

This is an old thread but if anyone wants the flavor of real salt cured cucumber pickles, I found a listing by googling the subject. It was a patent application if I recall. What the auther tried based on a chemists perspective was that grain alcohol can be substitured molecule for molecule for salt in the curing process. He gave the formulas to use and I followed them and made a plastic crock full of wonderful dill pickles in my spare bathtub. It takes almost a month to cure fully and the pickles are nice and sour just like real deli dill and like the salt pickles my mother and father used to make in the 1930s and 49s. Sorry but I only made them once but you can find the reference by googling like I did. And no you can't drink the brine, the alcohol is all used up in the process and the brine tastes sour and full of dill.