# What to do with big cucumbers?



## Bad Wolf

I mean really big cucumbers, like my son didn’t check the garden for the whole two weeks I was gone big.  Like 10-12 inches long and 3 inches in diameter big!

I hate to waste them but they look too big to pickle.

Any ideas?


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## TMonter

That late in the game they get pretty bitter for eating. I know some people make a tomato/cucumber salad.


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## Wallyworld

Greg H said:
			
		

> I mean really big cucumbers, like my son didn’t check the garden for the whole two weeks I was gone big.  Like 10-12 inches long and 3 inches in diameter big!
> 
> I hate to waste them but they look too big to pickle.
> 
> Any ideas?


Compost


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## Jay H

See what happens when you try to split it with a 27ton log splitter? 

Jay


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## Bad Wolf

So far the wife has made gazpacho out of a couple.  Will try cutting them and making pickle slices, one slice will do a whole burger.


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## Mmaul

[





> quote]


So far the wife has made gazpacho out of a couple.  Will try cutting them and making pickle slices, one slice will do a whole burger[/quote]

Might be on to a new marketing idea.


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## SolarAndWood

Run them through the dehydrator and see if they pass as chips?


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## Battenkiller

MMaul said:
			
		

> Might be on to a new marketing idea.




The McCumber?


Old Italian trick (taught to my mom by my old Italian grandmother).  Cut about an inch off the end and rub the cut ends together.  Supposed to draw out the bitter juices.  Cut another half inch off the main body and toss that away, then seed the thing and eat it.  Or chop it up for cuke salad.  Or put some in salsa or gazpacho.  You can also juice them.  Carrot juice mixed in will sweeten up any bitterness present.

You can use them as a facial astringent as well.  That's how I stay so young and beautiful looking.  Putting cucumber slices over your eyes is supposed to soothe tired eyes and get rid of puffiness and circles.  I'm waiting until I get a huge one to to see if it will get rid of that 5" circle on the back of my head.


Mostly, we give them away to guests we don't like that much.  Tuck them right in there with that huge bag of overgrown zucchini and overripe tomatoes and they'll never even notice.


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## leaddog

when I was a kid and we raised them us kids would take those really big ones and make boats out of them . We would carve them into all different shapes and take them down to the pond. with some string and such you could have barges, tugs and all kinds of fun. Yes we always wished they would get bigger but we never did get any big enough to ride in. Thats the only good memories I have of pickles though as picking them all day in the hot sum wasn't any fun. Makes me appreciate how hard the migrants work.
leaddog


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## oilstinks

Loaf of bread, mayo, tomato, onion, salt pepper, cucumber sliced longways, yummy


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## pyper

Cut the end off some and taste it. When ours start to get big they usually end up tasting like watermelon rind. Take out the seeds and put it in salad, or pickle it.


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## billb3

Ha- they can get bigger than that.
They turn bright yellow and orange and  or white and are easier to find.  

Compost.

Or eat them, but they are usually  very bitter, woody and chewy, especially the seeds.



Never leave them on the vine as the  maturing seeds send some kind of chemical signal back to the rest of the plants that the job of producing progeny is done and it can give up now.


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## gpcollen1

1 - slice lengthwise like pickle wedges, put on plate and salt and pepper them.  Let them site for about an hour and then eat at room temp.

2 - slice in half and scoop out sees as they are probably big and nasty.  Slice cuckes along with onion and tomato.  Toss with a dressing.  I like Olive Oil, Rice vinegar and mustard with some S&P.  2:1 ration oil to vinegar and a nice dollop of a spice brown or whole grain mustard.  This dressing always has folks asking me for the recipe and I laugh while telling them how easy it is.  I use it for anything, including slaws.


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## JustWood

2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup vinegar      eye like apple cider
1 Tbls salt
1 teaspoon celery seed
 Dissolve sugar and salt in vinegar


Slice thin 6 ave to large pickles
Slice 1 large onion and 2 bell pepers.
Place in large bowl and cover for 5 days opening once a day to mix thoroughly.
After 5 days EAT.
Best pickle eye ever had. CAREFULL you dohnt get a belly ache.
BIG cukes dohnt make a diff in taste.


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## Zef_66

SolarAndWood said:
			
		

> Run them through the dehydrator and see if they pass as chips?



This is what I do. Slice them thin, put on a little salt, and dehydrate them and they are a good substitute for chips.


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## 'bert

could you make it into relish? Or sell them to the tourists as miniature watermelon.


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## begreen

Do what the locals do with their giant zuchinis. Find an unattended convertible with the top down and make a deposit in the back seat.  ;-P


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## Jags

captiveLEE said:
			
		

> 2 cups sugar
> 1 1/2 cup vinegar      eye like apple cider
> 1 Tbls salt
> 1 teaspoon celery seed
> Dissolve sugar and salt in vinegar
> 
> 
> Slice thin 6 ave to large pickles
> Slice 1 large onion and 2 bell pepers.
> Place in large bowl and cover for 5 days opening once a day to mix thoroughly.
> After 5 days EAT.
> Best pickle eye ever had. CAREFULL you dohnt get a belly ache.
> BIG cukes dohnt make a diff in taste.



Zactly.

I do this to probably 5 batches or so, per summer.  I use a mandolin for the slicing of the cukes, the un-yon gets a little thicker cut.


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## SolarAndWood

Cucumber processor


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## HeatsTwice

If you make a bunch of this, can I come over?


http://www.yumsugar.com/Happy-Hour-Sueo-1892088


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