Starting fermented pickles! These are harvests from our Common Wealth Pickler stock selection row.
Here is the recipe for two half gallon jars – by Edmund Frost
Ingredients:
*A few pounds of fresh small cucumbers
*1-2 stems of dill florets, starting to seed
*2-3 cloves of garlic
*2 grape leaves (the tannin helps with crispness – you can also use oak leaves)
*7 tablespoons of pickling salt
*Two small-medium hot peppers, cut in half lengthwise (we used our Szegedi peppers here)
Steps:
-Soak the cucumbers in cold water for 15 minutes, then cut off the blossom ends.
-The dill, peppers and grape leaves need to be in the bottom or middle of the jar, held down by cucumbers because otherwise they’ll float.
-Pack the cucumbers in as tightly as possible. The ones at the top at least should be crosswise. This way the jar holds them in and they don’t float. One way or another everything needs to be submerged in the brine. (If you’re making pickles in a bucket you can hold them down with a plate and a jar of water on top of the plate for weight).
-Fill with water almost to the top of the jars and then add salt, 3.5 tablespoons per jar.
-Close the jars and shake them so the salt dissolves. One way or another the salt has to be fully dissolved and evenly spread through the solution.
-Loosen the lids and set the jars to ferment. In ambient summer or early fall temperatures it will typically take 2.5-5 days, depending on how hot it is.
-A small amount of white mold will form at the top of the jars after a few days. Skim this off. Taste one of the pickles to make sure they’re sour and fermented enough. Refrigerate them promptly when done. This really helps them stay crisp.
Good luck! These are really delicious and wonderful but they do need care and attention to come out right. It may take some experimentation if you’re new to fermentation.