Fermented Dill Pickles

Here is my recipe for pickles:

Start with large glass jar, crock or food grade plastic bucket of at least 1 gallon size.    Old pickle jars DO NOT work well in my opinion because it is hard to find something to put on top of the cukes to keep them weighted down and under the surface of the water.   This is very important because any contact with air will cause spoilage.   A container that does not neck down at the top is what works best. 

Fill the container ¾ full with any combination of the following to suit your tastes:

·       Pickling cukes (of course)

·       Hot peppers (I like a few jalapeño and a few cayenne)
·       Fresh dill (do not use dill spice (or any other dried and ground up spice) as this will just float to the top and cause spoilage)
·       Garlic cloves
·       Celery stalks
·       Whole Peppercorns
·       Baby carrots
·       Pearl onions

Layer the ingredients so that everything is in as close proximity with everything else as possible to ensure even flavor distribution. 

Mix the following in these proportions until you have enough to cover the above ingredients by at least 1 inch.

·       2 quarts spring water
·       1/3 cup pickling salt
·       ½ cup cider vinegar

Once everything is in the crock, find a small plate or saucer or plastic lid that just fits inside the crock and put a mason jar full of water on top of it to keep everything pushed down and under the water.  It is very important that nothing floats up past the water barrier during fermentation.  Any exposure to air can cause spoilage.  (they occasional peek or taste test won’t hurt)  I always leave the smallest cukes on top for taste testing near the end.

You will notice after the 3^rd day or so a white film starting to grow on the surface of the water.  This is perfectly normal and is just natural yeast growing.  It is important that you scrape it off everyday, though.  While it is not harmful itself, if left there, it will change the PH level of the mix and could allow nasties to grow instead of the good bacteria that is allowing the food to ferment and creating the lactic acid that will preserve them. 

Cover with a towel and leave on counter away from direct sun-light and sources of heat.

The process is very temperature dependant.  The warmer it is, the faster the process will happen.  Not recommended if temps stay above 85 degrees.  72 – 78 is ideal.  At 75 degrees, you should have pickles in 10 – 14 days.

When they are done, place them into jars and cover with the leftover liquid and store in fridge.  Should be good for months this way.  If you want to can them for longer storage, you must boil the liquid first, then water-bath as you would for any other pickle. 

CHEERS!

~ Nate Morley