While all cucumbers share a common lineage, not all are created equal when it comes to their culinary destiny. According to the University of Missouri Extension, pickling cucumbers vs regular cucumbers differ primarily in size, shape, and skin texture, with pickling varieties typically being shorter, thicker, and bumpier. The United States Department of Agriculture reports that in 2020, cucumber production for fresh market and pickling totaled 793 million pounds and 47,200 acres respectively. This highlights a tailored cultivation for each cucumber's purpose. For consumers, the distinction is crucial: while freshness and crispness are universal indicators of quality, the best pickling cucumbers possess a firmness and flavor profile that withstands the pickling process, whereas regular, or slicing, cucumbers are valued for their immediate texture and taste. Choosing the right cucumber can elevate your culinary experience, whether it's a crunchy salad or a jar of tangy pickles.
Certain varieties of cucumbers have been bred specifically for use in pickling. By using these varieties, the home pickling enthusiast will end up with a crisper and more flavorful result. If growing these vegetables at home, be sure to select seeds that are labeled as "pickling" or "good for pickling" on the seed packet. Good choices include Pioneer, National Pickling, Saladin, Bush Pickling, County Fair Hybrid, Liberty Hybrid, Ballerina, Boston Pickling, and Eureka Hybrid. For salad cucumbers, recommended varieties include Sweet Slice Burpless, Salad Bush, Straight 8, Burpee Hybrid, Sweet Success, Poinsett, Indio, and Dasher II.
Pickling cucumbers typically have thinner skins than the salad type, allowing for the vinegar, brine, or other pickling solution to better penetrate the skin and flavor the meat. They are short and squat, instead of long and lean. Pickling cucumbers also usually have "warts," the little bumps on the skin that are the trademark of the classic dill pickle; salad cucumbers usually have much smoother skins. Good pickling varieties will also have fewer seeds as well, unless they have been left too long to ripen.
Cucumber varieties bred for pickling are typically gradient in color: dark green at the stem end that fades to light green at the blossom end. Salad types will be a more uniform dark green from tip to tip. The belly is the side where the growing vegetable was in contact with the soil before harvest. A pickling cucumber will typically be a lighter green in that area than a salad cucumber.
As a general rule, salad and burpless varieties do not make outstanding pickles, except for relishes or bread-and-butter pickles where a softer texture is desirable. Garden-grown cucumbers should be refrigerated immediately upon harvesting, and at least within 24 hours. Refrigeration will minimize moisture loss, which is the key to crispness. Store-bought pickling cucumbers should always be refrigerated as soon as possible in order to increase the likelihood of producing a crispy, crunchy pickle.