Sour Pickle Fermentation

Here's the pickle recipe that I tried for the fermentation project, with my observations/changes done in Red and Italicized:

Obtained from the following site:

http://www.wildfermentation.com/making-sour-pickles-2/

Timeframe: 1-4 weeks

Special Equipment:

• Ceramic crock or food-grade plastic bucket (I used a 5 gallon water cooler)
• Plate that fits inside crock or bucket
• 1-gallon/4-liter jug filled with water, or other weight
• Cloth cover

Ingredients (for 1 gallon/4 liters):

• 3 to 4 pounds/1.5 to 2 kilograms unwaxed
• cucumbers (small to medium size)
• 3⁄8 cup (6 tablespoons)/90 milliliters sea salt: my first attempt was way too salty, after I adjusted the salt to 4 TBS, it was much better, and mold was not a problem.
• 3 to 4 heads fresh flowering dill, or 3 to 4
• tablespoons/45 to 60 milliliters of any form of
• dill (fresh or dried leaf or seeds): I used 2 handfuls of fresh dill, no seeds.  Could have used more…I love dill!
• 2 to 3 heads garlic, peeled: Again, I used 5 heads of garlic and still wanted more….
• 1 handful fresh grape, cherry, oak, and/or: Used grape leaves first time, Oak a second, not much difference.  This is presumably to add tannins to keep pickle crunchy.
• horseradish leaves (if available). Definitely worth putting horseradish in!
• 1 pinch black peppercorns

Process:

1. Rinse cucumbers, taking care to not bruise them, and making sure their blossoms are removed. Scrape off any remains at the blossom end. If you’re using cucumbers that aren’t fresh off the vine that day, soak them for a couple of hours in very cold water to freshen them.
2. Dissolve sea salt in ½gallon (2 liters) of water to create brine solution. Stir until salt is thoroughly dissolved.
3. 3. Clean the crock, then place at the bottom of it dill, garlic, fresh grape leaves, and a pinch of black peppercorns.
4. Place cucumbers in the crock.
5. Pour brine over the cucumbers, place the (clean) plate over them, then weigh it down with a jug filled with water or a boiled rock. If the brine doesn’t cover the weighed-down plate, add more brine mixed at the same ratio of just under 1 tablespoon of salt to each cup of water.
6. Cover the crock with a cloth to keep out dust and flies and store it in a cool place.
7. Check the crock every day. Skim any mold from the surface, but don’t worry if you can’t get it all. If there’s mold, be sure to rinse the plate and weight. Taste the pickles after a few days.
8. Enjoy the pickles as they continue to ferment. Continue to check the crock every day.
9. Eventually, after one to four weeks (depending on the temperature), the pickles will be fully sour. Continue to enjoy them, moving them to the fridge to slow down fermentation.

I did this recipe twice, with the second attempt using less salt, as indicated, with better results.  In both attempts, the pickles seemed to be ready by the 7^th day, at average room temp of 65-70 degrees (done in the fall).

As with other recipes tried in class, this was so simple!  Getting the large container was the only thing I needed to source as I have a garden with all other ingredients (grape leaves had dropped and blown away by the second try, so I stole some Oak leaves from my neighbor during a walk – I didn’t ask, as they, too, were about to drop and I figured they wouldn’t miss raking a handful of them).