Can I substitute Zucchini for cucumber

7 years ago

This is my favorite sweet relish recipe. I'm just wondering if I could use a Zucchini instead of the cucumber. Trying to use up Zucchini. Thanks for the help

Cucumber Relish

5 cups
minced, unpeeled cucumber

1 ¼ cups
minced green pepper

¾ cup minced
sweet red pepper

3 ½ cups
minced onion

3 ½ cups
minced celery

¼ cup salt

3 ¾ sugar

2 cups white
vinegar

1 ¼
tablespoons celery seed

1 ¼
tablespoons mustard seed

Combine all
minced vegetables in large bowl, sprinkle with salt, cover with cold water, let
stand 4 hours.

Drain
thoroughly in colander, press out all excess liquid.

Combine
sugar, vinegar, celery seed and mustard seed. Bring to a boil stirring until
sugar is dissolved.

Stir in
drained vegetables, simmer 10 minutes.

Pack into
Kerr jars to within ½ inch of top. Put
on cap, screw band firmly tight.

Process in
boiling water bath 10 minutes.

Yield 5-6
pints

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Comments (4)

digdirt2
7 years ago
It is a 100% vinegar brine so yes you can substitute without any pH concerns. My issue with the recipe is it sounds awfully dry, very dense - 14 cups of solids and only 2 cups of liquid. I don't see how there can be full heat penetration in something that dense with only 10 mins of processing.

Can I ask what the source of the recipe is? Most of the approved relish recipes call for 3-4 times as much liquid as this one does and they stress how relish should be jarred loosely with free movement within the jars to avoid cold pockets.

Dave
Sally (Central Illinois) thanked digdirt2
shermthewerm
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Not wanting to hijack, but having just read what Dave said now I'm worried about my relish. I followed the Ball (2012 edition) recipe for Zesty Zucchini--it has at least as many solids & not much liquid either. Here's the recipe:

12 c finely chopped zucchini

4 c chopped onions

2 red bell peppers chopped

1 green bell pepper chopped

1/c pickling salt

2 1/2 c sugar

2 1/2 c vinegar

1 T nutmeg

1 T turmeric

4 T prepared horseradish

1 chili pepper, chopped

Soaked overnight in salt, then drained, cooked for about 45 min, then processed for 15 min.

Does this sound safe?

(Apologies if I shouldn't have piggybacked on OP's question--which I'm not qualified to answer!)
Sally (Central Illinois) thanked shermthewerm
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Found myself in this forum when poking around in pickling cucumbers. Didn't realize I ended up in Asian vegetable forum. My apologies to anyone who might get annoyed for seeing a post here regarding a wonderful cucumber variety I am growing this year. Got the seeds from Totally Tomatoes (primarily sells heirloom variety tomato seeds). It is a French cornichon type that's burpless and seedless. Highly productive vine sets perfect fruits early without cross pollination. It even seemed like the fruits set before the flowers opened! Fruits are sweet, firm, and crunchy. Best harvested when they are about 4-5" long. Diameters are about 1 to 2 inches. (2-3" if I don't pick soon enough.) My only grievance is that the smooth skin is covered with extremely sharp needle-like spines. Holding one is like holding a spiny cactus! Great in salads, great in pickling! The variety is called "Cool Breeze". We got seeds into ground late this year, but with only four plants, we've harvested enough to eat some, discarded some too large for eating (but great for the have-a-heart trap and controlling slugs), to pickle a batch (~20 cukes), and I just harvested 30 more to combine with the 8 picked earlier to use for the next batch of pickles! Trying to decide which kind to make next. Probably more LLSPC's and maybe save some for a couple of quick pickle recipes. There's still more fruit on the vine! In comparison, the Kirby cukes that were planted at the same time are just starting to produce fruit ready for harvesting, but we only had two and there is maybe 1 or 2 nearly ready, and a only handful of newly set fruit. They are beauties though. If I get enough, I'll probably make some dills or half sours. I'll save the Straight 8's for salads, but have only seen a single fruit set on the vine and it's far from ready for harvesting. I highly recommend this cucumber variety. Maybe you could try it and not have the worm problems you were seeing with the ones you were growing.
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Comments (1)
No problem. The pH of either one is lower than zucchini. Carol
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I can't think of any reason why you couldn't substitute zucchini for the cucumbers in Ellie Topp's recipe. Thet are often subbed for each other in pickling recipes and are actually a bit less risky simply because they contain less water to dilute the vinegar than cucumbers do. In addition, this is a straight undiluted vinegar recipe with additional lemon juice which is even more acidic than vinegar. And yes, you can also sub zucchini in the NCHFP B&B pickles recipe since it too is a straight vinegar recipe. Dave
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Sally (Central Illinois)
Original Author
7 years ago
Sherm, no problem. I'm glad to have someone join in. I also like your recipe, except for the horseradish, wonder if I could make it too and leave that out!!!

Dave, If my memory serves me, I got this recipe from a Kerr canning book, that is probably quite old. I am pretty particular where I get canning recipes from. I have made this for years and the one thing that does help with the density is the water that comes from the cucumbers. probably will be even more from a zucchini, but understand what you are saying.
digdirt2
7 years ago
It really isn't a safety issue since it is straight vinegar undiluted but more of a shelf quality issue - getting all the air out of the jar and getting all the food particles well exposed to the brine.

If you don't want to thin out the recipe by just adding more vinegar - which is easy to do and what I'd do - then I'd at least increase the processing time to 15 mins rather than 10 like Sherm's recipe calls for.

I know we all make a concerted effort to get all the ingredients well mixed and get all the air bubbles out when we fill the jars but when it is really thick that can be impossible to do. Using a bit longer processing time will help force more of that trapped air out, create a better seal, and so add a margin of quality to shelf life without discoloring.

Dave

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Can I substitute Zucchini for cucumber

Comments (4)

digdirt2

shermthewerm

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Sally (Central Illinois)
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Can I substitute Zucchini for cucumber

Comments (4)

digdirt2

shermthewerm

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Sally (Central Illinois)Original Author

digdirt2

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Sally (Central Illinois)
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