Cucumbers Pickled in the Refrigerator

Here is another old country recipe. Pickled cucumbers are a staple in the Midwestern USA. They are served on the table with the relish tray. Often they are eaten as a side dish rather than just a relish.

I recommend putting them in a canning jar as other containers like Tupperware, Rubbermaid and such will retain the pickled cucumber smell. While, the cucumbers smell wonderfully fresh, the fruit salad you put in there next might suffer from the remaining cucumber smell!

When shopping for cucumbers look for the ones that are not withered, soft, or too large. Look for cucumbers with a bit of a yellow patch still on them. You do not want late picked or older cucumbers as they can develop a bitter taste.

In the recipe you will be asked to cut the cucumbers and place them in a colander with a bit of salt and then let drain. One of the reasons to salt and drain the cucumbers, as shown in this recipe, is to remove excess water and any bitterness that may be present if the cucumber was picked or purchased past the optimum harvest time.

The cucumber used here was a store purchased waxed cucumber. I prefer the non-waxed cucumber. Also, when I use my own garden cucumbers I not only use the scrubbed cucumber rind to be left on, I also split the cucumber down the middle and scrape out the seeds. However, as you see the store purchased cucumbers work just fine.

These pickled cucumbers MUST stored in the refrigerator and eaten within the week. I’ve never had them last much longer than that but they can ‘go bad.’ They will taste real funky if they are bad, so, don’t worry that you will not know when this recipe is past the eating stage!

Serve this as is at the table. It is also good on salads, sandwiches, and incorporated into homemade dressing. It will mix with yogurt to make a great version of Greek Tzatziki sauce. It is a nice flavor pairing with any savory meat dish.