What is the blossom end of a pickle?

When you're pickling cucumbers, you must cut off the blossom ends. It's easy to tell which is the blossom end if you're harvesting cucumbers from your own garden. You can see the stem and you'll know that the blossom was on the opposite side of the fruit.

What is the blossom end of a pickling cucumber?

When your cucumber is growing, the bottom end of it is called the blossom end (where the flower was). Trim this end off of your cucumbers, as it contains enzymes that soften pickles. Just a little sliver off the end takes care of those enzymes. 4.

What is the end of a cucumber?

The blossom end contains enzymes that can cause softening of your pickles. Remove at least 1/16th inch from the blossom end in order to give your pickles a fighting chance at being nice and crunchy! If you are picking the cucumbers from your garden it is easy to determine the blossom end...it is opposite to the stem.

What are the bumps on a pickle called?

While its cousins, pickling cucumbers, typically are quite covered in bumps (known as stipples), the idealized slicing cucumber is rounded and smooth.

Do pickles have flowers?

Modern varieties are a third to a half shorter and have more flowers along the vine as well. You don't have to pickle picklers. Harvested young, when the seed cavities are small, any variety of pickler is fine for fresh eating—in a salad or out of hand.

Blossom End Rot (BER) - What is it? How to Treat it.

What is the male flower on a cucumber?

Most greenhouse cucumber plants produce both male and female flowers – it's easy to tell the difference as male flowers have simple stalks while female flowers have miniature fruits forming behind the petals.

Can you eat cucumber flowers?

Cucumber flowers are a beautiful, tasty garnish for a wide variety of dishes & cocktails. Their delicate cucumber flavor makes them a great choice for salads or cold appetizers. Try pairing them with flavors like dill, gin, garlic, salmon, mint and/or tomatoes.

What are the prickly things on cucumbers?

Some might have tiny little hairs and others all out spines. The slicing varieties are usually less prickly while the pickling types are spinier. Native to India, cucumbers may have become spiny for the same reason that some animals are camouflaged or have horns…to protect themselves from predators.

What is a gherkin vs pickle?

A gherkin is a particular kind of pickle, but gherkins and pickles have a few key differences: Size: Gherkins are smaller than typical cucumber pickles because they are made from younger cucumbers. Texture: In comparison to pickles, gherkins have a bumpier texture and are crunchier.

What are the white things on cucumbers?

One reason that cucumber fruit turns white is a fungal disease called powdery mildew. This problem begins on the upper surface of the fruit and the cucumbers may look as though they have been dusted with flour. As it spreads, the entire fruit may become covered with the mold.

Why is the end of a cucumber bitter?

The cucurbitacins spread from the vegetative parts of the plant into the cucumber fruit when plants are under stress. Hot, dry weather is usually responsible for bitterness in cucumbers in Iowa. Cucurbitacins tend to be concentrated in the stem end of the cucumber and just under the skin.

Which end of cucumber is bitter?

When harvesting slicing cucumbers, take note: The bitter compound is likely to be more concentrated in the stem end than in the blossom end of the cucumber. It is also more prevalent in the peel and in the light green area just beneath the peel – and less likely to be found in the deeper interior of the fruit.

Why do you have to rub the ends of cucumbers?

The compound tends to be concentrated at the ends. Hence you rub the ends, sprinkling the salt helps in extracting the white milky fluid that contains the cucurbitacins. By cutting off the ends of the cucumber you reduce the likelihood of getting the cucurbitacins to spread to the rest of the cucumber.

Why do you soak cucumbers in salt water?

Saltwater Brine: This method, also known as saltwater soaking, is used to pull out excess water from cucumbers before pickling, which will help prevent soggy pickles.

Why are my pickles not crunchy?

If the pickles are soft, they are spoiled from the yeast fermentation. Don't use them. Using too weak a salt brine or vinegar solution may cause soft or slippery pickles, as can using moldy garlic or storing the pickles at too warm a temperature. These pickles are spoiled and should be discarded.

What are cucumbers called in England?

an English cucumber is just the kind you'd buy normally in a British supermarket as 'a cucumber'. They differ from the ones usually sold in the US, which are shorter, thicker- and smoother-skinned, and have bigger seeds.

Why is a pickle called a pickle and not a pickled cucumber?

The term pickle is derived from the Dutch word pekel, meaning brine. In the United States and Canada, the word pickle alone refers to a pickled cucumber (other types of pickles will be described as "pickled onion", "pickled beets", etc.).

What pickles do Mcdonalds use?

The pickles that McDonald's uses are Kosher dill spears with thicker slices than your typical kosher dills, according to the Huffington Post. The thicker slices allow them to stay on the burger better, and it also means they bring more flavor to the burger. These aren't just cheap pickles thrown onto any sandwich.

What are the little bumps on a cucumber?

07/30/2015. Pickles are made from cucumbers, which naturally have little spines on their skin. These spines are usually rubbed off before being sold or processed, leaving behind little bumps on the surface of the skin.

How long after flowering do cucumbers appear?

Depending on the variety, a cucumber plant can produce fruit 35 to 60 days after transplanting in to the garden. It will take between 4 and 18 days from pollination of a flower to produce mature fruit.

What are the black spikes on cucumber?

Among the list of pests and diseases cucumbers are vulnerable to, black specks are a symptom of four: gummy stem blight, anthracnose, squash bugs or four-lined plant bug.

How do you tell the difference between a male and female cucumber flower?

You can recognize the male flowers because they do not have a small fruit behind them. They produce the pollen needed to form the fruit, but they do not produce the fruit. The female flower on the other hand has a small fruit behind the flower even before it opens.

Do male and female cucumbers taste different?

For indoor varieties you do want to pick off the male flowers otherwise your developing cucumber to be pollinated by the male flower and the cucumber will taste bitter and not very pleasant. Outdoor varieties known as Cucirbit need both male and female flowers to produce fruit, so don't pick off the male flowers.