Sunday, August 8, 2010

Lacto Fermented Dill Pickles



I decided to try my luck at making traditional Lacto Fermented Dill Pickles in my new pickle crock. I got the method from the Wild Fermentation website.

Timeframe: 1-4 weeks

Special Equipment:

* Ceramic crock or food-grade plastic bucket
* 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
* 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)
* 2 to 3 heads garlic, peeled
* 1 handful fresh grape, cherry, oak, and/or
* horseradish leaves (if available)
* 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.

After only 24 hours the salt has removed enough water from the cucumbers that my boiled rock has sunk below the brine.

Lacto Fermented Dill Pickles

August 10, 2010: Today is day number 3 and there is something happening there is foam from fermentation bubbles on the surface and the brine has darkened so I can no longer see the pickles or the plate. I tasted the brine and there is a nice dill flavor.

6 comments:

Gail said...

Well done. I am looking for pickling cucumbers so I can start a new batch. This time I'll use the grape leaves and make sure I remove the flower stem.
Gail

Dale said...

Things are happening with mine. There is a foam on the surface from fermentation bubbles and today some scum which I'm skimming off. The brine has darkened so I can't see down to the pickles. I've tasted them and they already have a nice dill flavor.

Denny said...

Dale -

How did your pickles come out? Did you like them? I am going to try the same recipe with a Harsch crock and water seal. I am very interested in your reply. Thanks - Denny

Dale said...

I loved them and can't wait until I can make some more very soon now. I've never used a Harsch Crock but I have read about them and I think the process would be very similar to the Piclemeister like I used in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6fNfpNA9tI&feature=youtube_gdata both were very good but the crock recipe has an error in it way to much garlic other than that it is very good. good luck with your pickles .

Denny said...

Hi Dale - Thanks for your reply. So I loaded up the Harsch Crock last night and even after filling 2.6 gal (10L) had some Delicatese cucumbers left over. Fortunately had some nice grape leaves and I also used 2 cups of whey from raw milk. I used a lot of garlic because we like it and then fresh dill and pickle spice. I used 10 tbspns sea salt in one gallon filtered water and now I wait. Your blog and video helped me ferret this out for my first time. Very much appreciated, Denny

Dale said...

Thank you they sound like they will be great. The waiting is always the hardest part. The flavour also really improves once they have been refrigerated for a few weeks.