Soaking cucumbers in salt water before pickling

How does freshness affect the quality of the pickle?

• To get crisp pickles start with fresh, just-picked vegetables. As vegetables age they lose their crispness.

• Refrigerate produce if it cannot be used immediately upon harvest.
• Vegetables become soft as their pectin structure changes due to microbial activity, excess heat or improper handling. (Pectin is a natural substance in the vegetable that holds the cells together.) Once a vegetable becomes soft it cannot be made firm again.

What cucumbers are appropriate for canning?

• Use pickling cucumbers that are no more than 2 inches in diameter.
• Avoid waxed cucumbers for pickling.

  The brine or pickling solution can't penetrate the wax.

• Burpless cucumbers are not suitable for making fermented pickles because they produce an enzyme causing the pickles to soften during fermentation.
• Smaller burpless cucumbers with small seeds may be suitable for making quick-process pickles.
• The skins on burpless cucumbers may be tough.

Why do some older recipes call for alum?

• At one time, it was added for crispness; howe
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