Who knew that you should be selective when pickling cucumbers? As if there were certain secrets to effective pickling, right? The truth is this: the process is easy, but the product needs to be the best for it to have a lasting effect on you. Taste, seasoning, longevity: sometimes when you make your own pickles, they come out a little weird — and it just might be because you don’t necessarily have the best cucumbers out there. Quality matters.

How to Make Pickles Should Be All About How to Pick the Best Cucumber

And this is the best advice you can get from any organic food website out there: Kirby Cucumbers tend to be the best. They hold up better than even those English cucumbers given the firmness and crunchiness. Some of the misfires end up a bit soft, flaccid, and rather blah, which comes with the territory associated with pickling. Don’t fret. That’s often the case when you soak a cucumber in a brine that’s designed to completely soften up the flesh.

So you need a cucumber that can hold up.

Persian cucumbers also can handle the brine quite well. The best part of those types of cucumbers is the fact that they have thinner skins, making them perfect for jarring in the pint sizes. Better storage. Here’s the best advice, though, when picking your ideal cucumber from the organics produce market: look for ripe and firm. Not ‘limp’ and ‘wrinkly’. You’ll be regretting the efforts over the latter, wasting your brine and your time.

One More Thing: Definitely Wash Those Cucumbers Up Good

You’d think it wouldn’t matter since you’re soaking those cukes. But it does. Wash them. And cut away any blemishes found, as well as any bruises on the veggies before pickling. Then you’ll be good as gold. The cool thing about pickling is the fact that you can do the same to just about any vegetable out there. Once you have a flavor you like, go with it. Run with it. Heck, you can even market the stuff on your own!