Easy Way to Clean Cucumbers for Pickling and Preserving

Use this simple hack to clean fresh cucumbers so you can quickly make homemade dill pickles, without all the scrubbing! 

I'm a big fan of shortcuts in my kitchen. Whether I'm cooking, cleaning or canning, I feel so happy when I find a hack that helps me save on time. 

Nearly every year, I make a ton of delicious homemade pickles. In my kitchen, it's not unusual to put up 40+ pounds of cucumber pickle via the water bath canner. 

Don't get me wrong. I love my fermented cucumber pickles, but I also like using the canning process to preserve pickles, so they're shelf stable at room temperature. 

Unlike some folks think, it's actually quite easy to can homemade pickles. 

But you can waste a ton of time scrubbing cucumbers if they were grown on bare soil. Dirt really sticks to this bumpy, spiny little vegetable and it can take a long time to clean them up before canning. 

An older woman told me about a shortcut, and I tried it one year...in my top loading washing machine!

Yes, I said washing machine. 

Longer ago (when top loading machines were the norm) it wasn't uncommon for women to wash cucumbers, potatoes, beet, carrots and other root vegetables in their washing machine. It does a beautiful and thorough job. 

So here's an easy way to clean cucumbers for pickling, without using a scrub brush! 

Five Important Tips for Cleaning Cucumbers in a Washing Machine

Tip 1: You Need A Top Loading Washing Machine 

Don't ever try this in a front loading washing machine (the type where the door is on the front of the machine, instead of the top). The tumbling and rolling will break up your cucumbers and leave you with a relish, instead of whole, nicely cleaned cucumbers. 

You have to use a top loading machine. Top loading washing machines are gentle but they swish the water around enough to actually clean cucumbers, without bruising them. 

Tip 2: Always Wash Cucumbers in Cold Water 

Never wash your cucumbers in warm or hot water, or the cucumbers will soften and you'll have soft pickles.

Before adding cucumbers to the machine, adjust the settings so only cold water comes into the machine. And if you need to run it for a bit beforehand to get hot water out of the machine, do so. 

Tip 3: Choose the Delicate Wash Cycle

Cucumbers bruise easily, so choose the most gentle setting on your washing machine for this task. For most folks, your best setting will be the delicate wash.

Why does it matter if cucumbers get bruised? Those spots will go quite soft and you can say goodbye to crunchy pickles! 

Tip 4: Wash a Minimum of 10 pounds at a Time

Don't overload your washing machine when you wash cucumbers, or you may have bruising. Work with 10-15 pounds at a time, and you shouldn't have any problems.

Tip 5: Don't Leave the Washing Machine Unattended

At the most, cucumbers will need 2-3 minutes of washing. Stay by the machine so you can check periodically, and so you don't forget them and overdo it. 

How to Wash Your Cucumbers in a Machine

Step 1: Place Whole Cucumbers in the Washing Machine 

Gently place whole cucumbers inside the machine drum before adding water. Don't trim stems or blossom ends; leave everything whole. 

Step 2: Add Cold Water to the Machine 

Once you've added about 10 pounds of cucumbers, turn the machine on and let cold water (make sure it's cold) run into the machine. Your cucumbers will float, so just focus on adding 6-8 inches of water. 

Step 3: Wash Cucumbers Under Delicate Wash Setting

When you have enough water, make sure the setting on your washing machine is at delicate wash. 

If your cucumbers are mildly dirty, the machine only needs to swish water around for about 30-40 seconds. Really dirty cucumbers may need 60-80 seconds. Keep an eye on them, so you don't overdo it. 

Step 4: Remove Cucumbers and Rinse at Kitchen Sink

With clean cucumbers on hand, you can fish them out and place in a large bowl. Or, you can adjust the setting on your washing machine and spin out the water before removing cucumbers.

Cucumber will have grimy bits of dirt sticking to them, so be sure and rinse them at the kitchen sink. Moving water will remove loose particles of dirt, then you can put those cukes to good use in the kitchen!

Note: You'll want to spin the dirty water out of your washing machine and wipe down the inside walls before adding clothes. There will likely be a few cucumbers flowers and a bit of dirt left behind. 

We all need to save time in the kitchen when we're preserving food to feed our families.

If you have a top loading washing machine, this can be a great way to quickly clean cucumbers for your preserving efforts, whether you're making home canned pickles, cucumber relish or my favorite, fermented cucumber pickles recipe.