Easy Fermented Pickles Recipe
Make crunchy, probiotic pickles easily with just salt, water, cucumbers and a few spices. So good!
I am really into intestinal health, delicious food and DIY. When I learned that fermented pickles (these are the expensive pickles that are found in the refrigerated section of the grocery) are a good source of prebiotic fiber, I of course had to try making them for myself! The recipe seemed simple. Unfortunately, my first batch was a flop. The taste was good but my pickles were soft and turned into mush within not too long. I did some research and made adjustments but after a few unsuccessful batches, I gave up and went back to eating store-bought, vinegar based pickles that were not as good for my colon. It was really disheartening.
Anyone who knows me knows that I generally only temporarily give up my failed grand ideas. I did once have an igloo experiment that I never circled back around to... but I probably would have come back to it if it hadn't involved being outside in subfreezing temperatures. Other than that, I can't really think of any grand idea that I completely gave up without circling back around to it for a few modifications and good tries.
Needless to say, fermenting pickles is one of my recently renewed grand projects... but this time, I figured it out.
The Trick
Refrigerate after three days, no longer.
Do not ask me where I was online because I really can't remember, but I watched several videos and one of them gave exactly 3 days as the amount of time to ferment the pickles before sealing them up and popping them in the fridge. This did NOT make sense to me because pioneers didn't have refrigeration and made pickles so they could preserve foods for long periods of time. But I decided that even though it didn't make sense, I'd just try it. I mean, everything else had failed and what would it hurt? Right?
So here's what I learned.
You don't need a starter. (I hadn't yet tried this but it was my next step.) Starters often contain vinegar, which is not good for pickle ferments.
Close the lid tightly on the pickle jars and refrigerate them after three days of fermentation (fewer for pickle chips but I made spears). This is the main key I was missing. Dropping the temperature low enough stops the fermentation process.
Use purified water. Chlorine doesn't let probiotics grow and give a good ferment. Something grows in tap water, but it's not the good probiotics that make yummy pickles.
Do not use iodized salt. Use pickling salt, sea salt or pink Himalayan salt but NOT iodized salt. Like chlorine, Iodine inhibits the growth of beneficial bacteria.
Use pickling cucumbers or short, bumpy-skinned cucumbers because their skins are thicker. Do not use the long, smooth-skinned cucumbers often used for slicing into salads. The skins are too thin.
Add a source of tanin to each jar. This helps with crunchiness. Good sources are 1/2 tsp. of black tea leaves or half a bay leaf per jar. (I used the half bay leaf.)
Cut off both ends of the cucumber. The blossom end is the one we don't want to keep but it doesn't hurt to just cut off both. Better safe than sorry!
Super Simple.
Fermented Pickles
Ingredients
Enough cucumbers to fill the jar
Purified water
1 TBS sea salt or pickling salt per 1 cup of purified water.
If you have a previous batch, a few TBSP of the old brine
Equipment
Glass jar big enough to submerge the pickles with tight fitting lid (I use 16 oz. wide-mouth mason jars.)
Coffee filter, cheesecloth or lid with pickle pipe
Ziplock baggie big enough to fit mouth of jar or pickle pebble (glass weight used for pickling)
Desired seasonings (I use 1/2 tsp dill weed, 2 TBSP chopped onions and 1/2 tsp minced garlic in each jar. A sprinkle of black pepper or red pepper is a nice addition for spicier pickles.)
Optional equipment to make life easier
Wide mouth mason jars (The wide mouth was a game changer for me and I am so glad I switched over! These are often most affordable at your local, "big box" hardware store. I use Ball or Kerr brands.)
Pickle pebbles (This is so much easier than using baggies of water. I really am happy I invested in them.)
Waterless pickle pipes (These are not the style I use. Mine are like these that use water, but I wish I'd bought the waterless "pipes" instead. Ah, lessons learned!)
Pickle pipes (like the ones I use.)
Directions
Mix salt in water until dissolved, set aside.
Wash cucumbers, cut off both ends and discard ends. Slice cucumbers into halves or quarters.
Add seasonings and either 1/2 bay leaf or 1/2 tsp black tea leaves to bottom of jar. Tilt jar on its side and add cucumbers, then set upright. You want the jar packed firmly enough that the cucumbers stand upright but still loose enough to easily pull out a spear.
Pour the salt-water over top of the cucumbers. Gently tilt the jar from side to side to remove air bubbles, and/or slide a de-bubbler along the side of the jar if you have one. Then add more saltwater to cover the cucumbers. They need to stay submerged so they don't get yucky on the ends.
If you have a pickle pebble (like I do after having tried so many times to make pickles), then just plop it on top of your pickles, screw on your lid with pickle pipe and wait 3 days. Removed the pickle pebble, screw on a regular lid and put your jar in the fridge to stop fermentation. Done.
If you don't have a pickle pebble (like I didn't for a very long time), you can use plastic baggies filled part-way wit tap water to weigh down the future pickles. Fold the baggie edges over the rims or your jars to keep out fruit flies and such, and BE SURE to place your jars on a plate or pan to catch any saltwater that bubbles out! Put your jar(s) in an out-of-the-way spot at room temperature and OUT of direct sunlight, then wait three days, remove the plastic baggies, screw on your lids and put the jars in the fridge. Voila! Yummy, affordable, probiotic-rich pickles for a fraction of the retail price.
The best news? This recipe is good for more than just cucumbers! Try fermenting onions, jalapeños, carrots, etc. Let me know what you come up with and how it turns out. Good luck!
Share your experience!
Have you had trouble making your own fermented pickles, like I did? What was your fix?
What seasoning combinations do you use in your pickle recipe?
What are your favorite vegetables to pickle?
Have you noticed any health benefits from eating your ferments?
Tell me your answers in the comments!
Product Links (Affiliate)
Waterless Pickle Pipes These are not the pickle pipes I use but I would buy some like these if I had to buy new ones. The benefit of these is that they're waterless, they won't crack if you drop them and they're compact to store. If I did more pickling, I would probably invest in changing over.
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Pickle Pipes (like the ones I use) These work fine and I like them better than leaving the lid cracked open because the brine fruit flies don't get into the brine and the brine doesn't (usually) seep out. There's no silicone in them, so that's a plus, but there are also more pieces find a place to to store, which is a minus as far as I'm concerned.
Buy from << Walmart >>
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Pickle Pebble Using these glass weights is sooo much easier than using the water-filled baggie method. I don't make a lot of pickles but I am very glad I made this purchase because it made keeping my pickles under the brine so much easier. I would say that it is probably one of my best pickle-making purchases.
Buy from << Walmart >>
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Pickling Salt This is easy to find at your local supermarket and I have a box but you can also use sea salt. Just remember to use salt that is NOT iodized. Of course, if you are making a lot of pickles, a big box of pickling salt is nice to have.
Buy from << Walmart >>
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