Summertime brings an abundance of cucumbers and is the perfect time to make your own pickles. A common question preservers have about homemade pickles is how to keep the cucumber crunchy. Because we use heat when preserving, some crunch is naturally lost, but there are ways to reduce this and improve the crunch of your home-preserved pickles.

Pickling Firming Agents

If you have any of the Ball recipe books, you'll notice that they often recommend Ball Pickle Crisp, which is simply calcium chloride (E509). This firming agent is also used in commercial products like canned pear halves. While I personally avoid additives in my preserves, if you're interested in trying it, any food-grade calcium chloride will work. The typical dosage is 1/8 teaspoon per 500 mL (pint) jar.

Another product you might come across is alum (aluminum potassium sulfate). However, alum is no longer recommended for quick-process pickles as it’s not particularly effective.

What Works Best for Crunchy Pickles?

Here’s what I do to ensure my pickles stay crisp:

• Use Fresh Produce – The fresher the better when it comes to crunchy pickles. Smaller cucumbers tend to stay crunchier than larger ones, so don't let them grow oversized before harvesting.
• Remove the Blossom End – Trim about 5 mm from the blossom end (opposite the stem). This area contains higher levels of enzymes that can cause softening (they break down the pectin in the cells).
• Soak in Ice Water with Salt – Soaking cucumbers in ice-cold, salted water for about 4 hours prior to preserving helps maintain firmness. Try to keep ice in the water the entire time or place it in the fridge if needed. I water bath can all my pickles and always use this approach for preserves such as Bread & Butter Pickle or Sandwich Pickles. This means that ice-cold produce goes into the jars before the hot pickling liquid is added, and the jars go into the water bath canner for only a short period of time.

Other Natural Methods for Crisp Pickles

• Grape Leaves – These contain tannins that inhibit the enzymes responsible for softening. If you’re already trimming the blossom end, grape leaves may not add much, but they’re worth trying.
• Shorter Heat Treatment –If you're a fan of the open kettle (hot fill / overflow) method, older pickle recipes often heat the vegetables in the pickling liquid for a short time (and in some cases, not at all but that is rare) before going into the jar. You might find this method gives you a crunchier end result as the heat treatment is shorter. 
• Refrigerator Pickles – Instead of processing, make a pickling liquid, allow it to cool, then pour it over cucumbers in a sterilised jar, seal, and store in the fridge. These stay fresh for about a month and retain a great crunch.

I hope this gives you some extra ideas for making crunchy pickles. As always, fresh produce harvested at the right time is key for great results, but simple approaches such as removing the blossom end and soaking in an ice bath are very helpful. Happy pickling!