Curing of cucumbers is marked by an increased firmness, a greater degree of translucency, and a change in color from pale green to dark or olive green. These changes are uniform throughout the perfectly cured specimen. So long as any portion of a pickle is whitish or opaque it is not perfectly cured.
After proper processing in water, salt pickles may be eaten as such or they may be converted into sour pickles ([p. 7]), sweet pickles ([p. 8]), or mixed pickles ([p. 10]).
SMALL QUANTITIES
Pack the cucumbers in a 4-gallon jar and cover with 6 quarts of a 10 per cent brine (40° on salinometer scale). At the time of making up the brine, or not later than the following day, add more salt at the rate of 1 pound for every 10 pounds of cucumbers used—in this case 1 pound and 3 ounces. This is necessary to maintain the strength of the brine.
Cover with a round board or plate that will go inside the jar, and on top of this place a weight heavy enough to keep the cucumbers well below the surface of the brine.
At the end of the first week, and at the end of each succeeding week for five weeks, add one-fourth pound of salt. In adding salt always place it on the cover. If it is added directly to the brine, it may sink, as a result of which the salt solution at the bottom will be very strong, while that near the surface may be so weak that the pickles will spoil.
A scum, made up usually of wild yeasts and molds, forms on the surface. As this may prove injurious by destroying the acidity of the brine, remove it by skimming.
LARGE QUANTITIES
Put into a barrel 5 to 6 inches of a 40° brine ([Table 1, p. 14]) and add 1 quart of good vinegar. In this brine place the cucumbers as they are gathered. Weigh the cucumbers each time before they are added. Put a loose-fitting wooden cover over the cucumbers and weight it down with a stone heavy enough to bring the brine over the cover. After the cover and stone have been replaced add to the brine over the cover 1 pound of salt for every 10 pounds of cucumbers.
Unless the cucumbers are added too rapidly, it will be unnecessary to add more brine, for when a sufficient weight is maintained on the cover the cucumbers make their own brine. If, however, the cucumbers are added rapidly, or if the barrel is filled at once, more brine may be required. In such a case, add enough of the 40° brine to cover the cucumbers.