Cucumbers are the quintessential summer vegetable that is easy to grow, delicious to eat, and keeps on producing from June clear until fall’s first freeze. Unfortunately, once the cold snap hits, cucumber growing season is over for good, leaving gardeners with a bumper crop of cucumbers that need to be preserved before they turn to mush.
Cucumbers have a very short shelf life, and even when refrigerated don’t seem to last longer than five days. This is probably why the more typical way of preserving cucumbers is by pickling them in a seasoned vinegar solution. However, cucumbers can also be frozen, although not quite in the traditional sense of blanching and freezing that most of us are familiar with. To freeze cucumbers, they must first be soaked in a vinegar solution, and then can be transferred ~ vinegar and all ~ into a freezer container and cured for several days before eating. While freezer cukes won’t taste like freshly picked-off-the-vine cucumbers, they still make a tasty addition to a meal.
Here’s two methods of freezing cucumbers. One of these should work for your family:
Frozen Dutch cucumber salad
Cucumber salads were a mainstay in our household when we were kids. Mom’s shortcut recipe called for making up large batches of cucumber salad and then freezing the salad in dinner sized portions that could be thawed as needed.
Ingredients needed include Dutch vinegar (or any low acidity vinegar), granulated sugar, and some garden cucumbers that are peeled and thinly sliced. While it seems like this recipe calls for an awfully lot of sugar, sugar seems to be the key ingredient in keeping the cucumber chips crisp and shouldn’t be skimped on.
1. Mix up equal parts of vinegar, sugar and water.
2. Pour over sliced cucumbers and let soak overnight.
3. Transfer into a freezer bag or freezer container.
4. Seal, label, and freeze for at least 4 days.
5. To use, let the cucumber salad thaw just enough so that there are still ice crystals in the vinegar and then serve chilled.
Freezer pickled cucumbers
The American version of this European salad calls for the addition of salt and onion for a crisp, sweet pickle that’s great in salads and sandwiches.
Ingredients needed include 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar, a thinly sliced onion, 1 tablespoon salt, and 2 quarts of peeled, sliced cucumbers of any variety.
1. Layer onion and cucumber slices in a large bowl, sprinkling each layer with salt until an entire tablespoon has been used up.
2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let set out for about 2 hours.
3. Thoroughly drain the cucumber mix in a colander and transfer back to the large bowl.
4. Combine sugar and vinegar in a separate bowl. Pour mixture over cucumbers, gently stirring until sugar is well dispersed throughout the cucumbers.
5. Ladle cucumber mix into freezer bags, can-or-freeze Mason jars, or freezer containers, allowing at least a half inch of head space for expansion. Seal, label, and freeze for at least 4 days before thawing.
The cucumbers preserved in either of these two methods can be frozen for up to 12 months.
resources:
Urbanext.illinois.edu
