NATURALLY FERMENTED PICKLES

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN NATURALLY FERMENTED PICKLES

THE IDEAL CUCUMBER VARIETIES FOR PICKLING

Harmonie. Kirby. McPick. Alibi. Parisienne Cornichon de Bourbonne.

Though you can pickle any cucumber, pickling cucumbers are the best. If you use slicing cucumbers, you might end up with flat, squishy and limp pickles. How to know if what you are buying is a pickling cucumber or a slicing cucumber.

Your best bet is to visit your local farmer’s market and talk to the growers or if you’re growing your own. They’ll know the variety of cucumber they grew and what it is suited for. Don’t get fooled by the size. A small, immature slicing cucumber may be tempting, but if it is not a pickling cucumber, you most likely won’t be happy with the results.

Here’s what Johhnny Selected Seeds has to say in their catalog about pickling cucumbers:

“While most pickling cucumbers can also be eaten fresh, varieties with this designation are selected with several criteria in mind. The plants should be high yielding, and the fruits must have great flavor, remain crisp when pickled, and be just the right size to fit the pickling jar. Throw in a good disease resistance package, an unusual color or shape, and Johnny’s has the right choice for you.”

Planting your own cucumbers? The following article from A Gardener’s Table might be of help.

Cucumbers for Pickling: They’re Not All Alike

DIY PICKLING SPICE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup whole allspice
1/2 cup mustard seeds
1/4 cup chopped, dried ginger root
1/4 cup black peppercorns
1/4 cup cinnamon sticks, broken into small pieces
6 dried bay leaves, torn into small pieces
1/4 cup whole cloves
1/4 cup dill seeds
1/4 cup mace
1 tablespoon cardamom seeds
1/4 cup coriander seeds
1 teaspoon nutmeg

PREPARATION

Mix spices together and put into a dark glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Mix thoroughly before measuring. For maximum freshness, store in a cool, dark area.

And another recipe from the HGTV Gardens blog:

Make Your Own Pickling Spice

TIPS TO SUCCESSFULLY FERMENT PICKLES

What’s truly amazing is that so many people love pickles even if they’ve never tasted a really good one. A great pickle makes your eyes widen in surprise and your tongue tingle with pleasure. The sourness should make you salivate for more, rather than pucker and wince, and the texture should have a noticeable crunch when bitten into. Read more: Naturally Fermented PicklesMark Sisson, Mark's Daily Apple

Though making cucumber pickles can be a bit tricky, here are some tips to get you fermenting pickles that make you salivate for more.

• Practice with a few small batches in jars before fermenting in a large crock.
  It is much easier to stomach losing the costs of a small jar of moldy pickles than it is a large crock.
• Use ultra-fresh and blemish-free cucumbers.
  Look for cucumbers that are smaller, uniform in size and with a thicker skin that is less likely to be bitter. Do not use cucumbers that have been waxed.
  The best place to score pickling cucumbers is at the farmer’s market starting in late June, early July. They should feel firm without dull, wrinkly skin. Taste a few before use and don’t pickle any that taste bitter. Ask the farmer if they are a pickling variety.
• Perk up cucumbers in cold water.
  If the cucumbers you’re going to pickle are not fresh-picked and are feeling a bit soft, first soak them in cold water for an hour or two.
• Remove the blossom end.
  Gently scrub cucumbers in water before use, trimming off stems and thinly slicing off the blossom end. Blossoms contain an enzyme that will soften your pickles.
• Add tannin.
  Tannins help strengthen the pectins in the cucumbers and keep pickles crispy. Grape leaves are most commonly used, though oak and horseradish work too. Some recipes also call for black tea. Your easiest option might be bay leaves, available in the spice section at your grocery store.
  The One Ingredient You’ll Need for Crunchy Lacto-Fermented Pickles
• Season with a heavy hand.
  Perhaps it’s because they’re often left whole, but cucumber pickles require more seasoning than other pickled vegetables.
• Use additive-free salt.“Pickling” Salt should be fine. Check the label to make sure it does not contain iodine and other additives that can interfere with the fermentation process.
  I like to use Himalayan Pink, a mineral-rich salt I use when fermenting sauerkraut.
• Use unchlorinated water to make your brine.
  Chlorine can interfere with the fermentation process.
  What is the Best Salt to Use When Making Fermented Sauerkraut?
• Watch for signs of fermentation.
  Bubbles rising to the surface and air pockets forming.
  Skin color changing from bright green to a darker olive green.
  Brine turning cloudy.
  Pickles sinking in the jar, rather than floating. (As the pickles absorb salt from the brine, the cucumbers’ specific gravity increases while the brine’s decreases.)
  Pickles tasting tangy.
  Interior of pickle changing from white to translucent.
• Ferment for just 3-6 days.
  Check daily starting day 3, immediately moving to the refrigerator at the first hint of softness.
• Consume within 2-3 months to enjoy them when crisp.
• Don’t toss that leftover brine!
  “The juice of lacto-fermented pickles? I know that makes most people squirm, but a salty swig of pickle juice quenches my thirst on a hot day more than water. Not only will that salty brine replace salt that is lost through sweating but lacto-fermented pickle juice is also a good source of electrolytes. I’d take it any day over those nasty chemical-filled sports drinks (yeah I’m talking about you, Gatorade).” – Craig Fear, Fearless Eating
• Use both the leftover brine and the pickle as a performance-enhancing snack.“Now, athletes—from NFL players to gravel-grinding cyclists—are turning to the crunchy green treats as a performance-enhancing snack. Pickles are the next big thing in sports nutrition.” – 5 Reasons Pickles Are the Weird New Ride Snack You Need to Try, by Bicycling Magazine

BRINE CHART FOR PICKLES

Salt is the workhorse in your pickle jar. The right amount of salt is critical for creating the environment for mighty-microbes to ferment those sweet cucumbers into sour pickles.

• The right amount of salt encourages the right bacteria – lactic-acid bacteria – to thrive and grow, giving them a competitive advantage over the hostile bacteria.
• Too little salt favors harmful bacteria that can not only turn your cucumbers into mush but may cause mold or yeast to grow.
• Too much salt and the lactic-acid bacteria will not multiply. You end up with cucumbers floating in salty water, not pickles.
• Too much salt and unwanted salt-tolerant bacteria and yeasts will grow. Not what you want.

What is the right amount of salt?

To make cucumber pickles, a ratio of salt to water is used. For cucumber pickles, the recommended brine ratio is in the range of 3.5% to 5.0%. This is different than the 2% ratio typically used to pickle other vegetables.

This is due to the fact that there are enzymes in cucumbers that break down and soften the cucumber. To counteract this, more salt is used and cucumbers are fermented for short periods of time.

Most recipes do these calculations for you. Use the chart below to mix up a specific quantity of brine or to do your own calculations.

Also, if you’re wanting to achieve a certain style of pickle or are fermenting in hot weather – who isn’t – you can use the chart to make adjustments.

For Half-Sour Pickles – eaten when they are still somewhat bright – a 3.5% brine is recommended.

To ferment Full Sour Pickles, use a 5% brine.

French-Style Cornichons Pickles use a 5% brine and are typically spiced with tarragon, garlic and peppercorns.

“Although brining recipes vary widely, 5 percent is a good brine strength to use as a starting point. While 5 would be extremely high in sauerkraut or kimchi, it is important to understand that 5 percent brine yields a much lower-salt product, because once the vegetables go into the brine, they absorb salt and release juices, thereby diluting the salt concentration by more than half. “ – Sandor Katz, The Art of Fermentation

And for a discussion on measuring salt with vs. weighing salt, see my blog article:

Salt by Weight for Delicious Sauerkraut… Batch after Batch

PICKLE TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS

Here’s what happened or what to do if you end up with:

• Mushy or slimy pickles.
  Undesirable microbes grew due to too little salt, too high of fermentation temperatures, blossoms not removed or not keeping the cucumbers submerged. Discard.
• Pickles with a hollow middle.
  The cucumbers grew this way, especially if they are larger and more mature. You can pick out cucumbers like this when you wash them – they float! Perfectly safe to eat.
• Shriveled pickles.
  Too much salt was used when preparing the brine or the cucumbers were held too long before brining.
• Dark or discolored pickles.
  Hard water – water too high in iron – was used to prepare the brine or discoloration from spices used, especially ground spices.