Homemade kimchi cucumbers aren't crunchy

[bshee]

Hey guys,

Made my own kimchi at home. The cabbage came out fine, but the cucumbers were mushy (well atleast half of them were). Is this because i forgot to salt them in the beginning? When I salt the veges they wilt though.

Brian

[Soup]

one of two explainations:
They are over ripe, it goes mushy if you keep them too long or (more likely reason) you did not salt properly. When you salt it does go a little limp but it retains crunch for a long time (think pickles).

I also tend to stay away from most cuke varieties except kirby (which is widely available) and korean (which as you guessed the best for this). I have used english hot house cukes and japanese but it doesn't come out as cruchy or good.

Soup

[bshee]

You were right, it's cause i didn't salt them. My second batch is MUCH crunchier. However, now they are way too salty. I took the cucumbers and just threw salt ( a lot of it) on them and left it overnight.

Is it better to leave them in a salt solution? And for how long?

Brian