Homemade Dill Pickles

An iphone here, an app there! A deluge of near-instant updates later and suddenly the “wait, let me get my camera, oh wait it’s dirty and oh wait yeah…”. And on, and on, into infinity… well, you and I throw that to the wayside today! Let me adjust the focus here (if you will! Hah!) and do some cross-posting.

Now then, to get to the point! These is a story about fermenting homemade dill pickles. Fermentation means they are preserved by happy, good for us bacteria. The hard working bacteria turn the cucumbers into crispy, salty and delicious pickles after a three to five day dip in their brine-y bath. As such, the pickles are easily digestible and teeming with probiotics. So, there isn’t much downfall to putting up your own pickles!

f fermented foods scare you, don’t fret! You can teach yourself to make them and like them. If you want extra information, click over to the fermented section of my site, or think about ordering The Art of Fermentation as your fermentation tome.

All this to say: you can make your own homemade dill pickles! I believe in you. Comment on this post with questions and I will help you, as always.

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Homemade Dill Pickles

Course Side Dish

Prep Time 5 minutes

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound cucumbers
• 1 cup filtered water
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup whey if not using, add additional tablespoon of sea salt
• 3 tablespoons dried dill or two tablespoons fresh roughly chopped
• three garlic cloves peeled and smashed
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
• 5 black peppercorns

You will need:

• 1 quart mason jar with ring and lid
• boiling water
• additional filtered water as needed

Instructions

1. Wash cucumbers. Leave whole if small, or chop or slice as you desire. In general, larger pieces will take longer to ferment.
2. Clean mason jar with boiling water, drain out and let dry.
3. Mix the sea salt through peppercorns in one cup filtered water in mason jar.
4. Add cucumbers, then fill rest of container with additional filtered water to just cover, allowing at least one inch of empty room between water and the lid.
5. Tightly close the mason jar, put in a dark, cool place and allow to ferment for 3-5 days, or longer if you went with the large pieces.
6. After cultured to your liking, transfer to fridge and eat unabashedly.
7. Please note: if your cucumbers turn out mushy (boo!), you may add an oak or grape leaf to the jar to ensure more crunch.