July 22, 2013
I am doing some fermented dill pickles for the first time. I have done sauerkraut and Kimchi before and wanted to try some dill pickles. I read through a lot of recipes and used one from Melanie at pickle me too.com. Her recipe looked good; all except for putting the lids on tight during the 3 to 5 day fermentation. If she does she is lucky she never had any explode; you need to let the gases escape. I covered the jars with cheese cloth and used the canning rings to secure and will keep it wet.
I liked her bit about using grape leaves or oak leaves that contain tannin and it keeps the pickles crisp. I read if you couldn’t get the grape or oak leaves to use about a teaspoon of black tea. That is what I used.
I had some dill out to use and used 3 heads in each batch.
I had a pickle plant in my garden; that were supposed to be for pickles but the pickles got fat; almost like a gourd. I sliced up one for on a salad and it tasted good. I had enough to do a half-gallon and found some local grown pickles to do another half-gallon.
For each half gallon I used about a Tbs. of pickling spices, about 1 Tb. dried garlic flakes, a tsp. of what I thought were mustard seeds. Oh well; they would work being a little lemony and my pickling spice had mustard seeds in it. I also used 3 fresh dill heads.
The two quarts of brine were enough to cover the pickles in both jars. I added two dried red chilies in the jar of local grown pickles I bought for a little heat. In about a week I should know if I have some good dill pickles or not.
Melanie has a lot of good recipes here
http://www.picklemetoo.com/My pickles
The recipe:
Lacto fermented dill pickles: adapted from pickle me too.com
Ingredients
5 tablespoons sea salt
2 quarts of chlorine-free water
4 to 6 grape, oak, horseradish leaves, or 1 tsp. black tea
6 to 9 cloves of peeled garlic, or 1 Tbs. dried garlic flakes
2 large heads of dill
Spices to taste: black peppercorns, red pepper flakes, mustard seeds, etc. (Secret ingredient: for an extra bite, add a few strips of fresh horseradish to the spice mix!)
Enough pickling cucumbers to fill a half-gallon jar
Directions
1. Make a brine with 2 quarts of chlorine-free water and 5 tablespoons sea salt. Mix well, cover, and allow to cool to room temperature. This brine can be kept for days before using.
2. In a 1/2-gallon jar add a couple of the tannin-containing leaves, a few cloves of garlic, the heads of dill, and 1/3 of the spices you plan to use.
3. Pack half of your cucumbers tightly on top of these spices. (The longest ones work best at the bottom.) Repeat a layer of leaves, garlic, and spices. Add another tightly packed layer of cucumbers and top them off with more garlic and spices.
4. Pour the brine over the pickles, leaving 1 to 2 inches of headspace. Place another tannin-containing leaf on top of the pickles as a cover between the pickles and the surface of the brine.
5. Loosely cap the jar, or use some cheese cloth secured with a ball ring, and place in a safe place at room temperature for 3 to 5 days. Alternatively, place in a root cellar or cool basement for up to two weeks.
6. You will know your pickles have fermented when the brine is cloudy, the brine is bubbling, and the pickles have a bubbly sourness to them. The warmer the fermenting temperature, the shorter the fermentation time, though a cooler fermentation temperature is desirable (less than 80°F).
7. Eat right away, or store in a refrigerator or root cellar for months and enjoy them all winter long.
Makes one 1/2-gallon jar of pickles.
Smokin Don
