Should I Remove Cucumber Prickles Before Pickling?

Faith Durand
Faith DurandSenior Vice President of Content at AT Media
Faith is the SVP of Content at Apartment Therapy Media and former Editor-in-Chief of The Kitchn. She is the author of three cookbooks, including the James Beard Award-winning, The Kitchn Cookbook. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband and two daughters.
published Jul 16, 2010
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Q: I planted Calypso pickling cucumbers in my garden this year. They are growing very well, and I already have an early yield of 10 larger pickling cucumbers from just four plants! These cucumbers are very prickly and I want to make bread and butter pickles out of them.

Do I try to remove the prickles before canning? Or do I make them into pickles with the spikes on?

Sent by Hilary

Editor: Hilary, we’re going to turn this tongue-twister of a question straight over to our readers. What say you, expert picklers? Do you scrape off your cucumber prickles, or just let them be?

Next question?

Related: DIY Tip: How To Make Dill Pickles

(Image: Veseys)

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Vegetables