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Canning

Meat

Pickling

S.U.F.I.

Fermented Cucumber Pickles

Start out by washing your cucumbers. Make sure you get any visible signs of dirt off of them. If they came fresh from your garden remove any access stems and/or remaining blossoms.

Next wash and sterilize your pickling jar. I use an earthenware pot so my solution is to wash thoroughly with hot soapy water and then fill the clean, rinsed crock with boiling hot water all the way to the brim. I leave the water there for 10 minutes and then dump it out. I also dry the crock with a clean kitchen towel before adding brine or pickles.

Prepare your brine solution seriately in a large container. Pay close attention to the quantities of salt and water. Brine solutions have to be salty enough to kill off bacteria but not so salty that you can't eat the pickles in the end. Its a delicate balance that starts with good measuring. Also, I use room temperature tap water as the basis of the brine. For the only reason that salt will dissolve more quickly in warm water.

When you have your brine mixture ready and your pickles washed layer about half the dill and pickling spices on the bottom of your pickling crock. Next put all of your cucumbers into the crock on top of the dry ingredients. Add the remaining spices and dill on top. Pour the brine solution over the top of the cucumbers. Make sure you fill your jar leaving about an inch or so from the top. You'll need to press the floating cucumbers down into the brine with a clean/sterile plate. You can add a bowl or jar for weight on top of the plate. Fill the bowl or jar with any left over brine. Use only brine to do this. If the bowl or jar were to tip over inside the crock you want to make sure that the salinity of the brine will not change and potentially become too weak to kill bacteria. Cover your container with a clean cloth and leave at room temperature in a cool, dry place.

Everyday check your fermenting pickles and remove any scum from the surface. It could take three days before scum starts to form. Use the edge of a spoon to gently scrape the scum from the top of the water. Scum will typically need a few days to form. Keep this process up for three weeks. At the end of that time your pickles will be ready to eat.

After 3 weeks check your pickles and make sure they are edible.

Notes

Pickles should be fairly crunchy. If your pickles appear or taste slimy or if they are overly soft throw them all away. Slimy, soft pickles are an indication that harmful bacteria are present and eating pickles in this state will most likely make you sick. Don't chance it just throw them out.

Pickles made in this fashion should be tangy, tart or sour. If they taste too salty chances are your brine was too strong to start out with. This problem can be corrected (slightly) by making a fresh brine and adding your pickles to it for storage. Some of the extra salt in the pickles will extrude in to the brine after a day or two.

If your pickles are too tart there is not much you can do. Tartness comes from the yeasts that have been encouraged to grow through the fermenting process. You might consider making mustard pickles or a chutney from overly tart pickles. You can add additional sugars in your chutney recipe to balance the taste.

Move the pickles to the fridge.

To refrigerate your pickles simply add them to a clean/sterile mason jar with the brine they have been fermenting in. Add a lid and stick them in the fridge. They will be good for a couple of weeks.

Store the pickles by canning.

If you wish to hot can remove the pickles from the brine and place them into hot/sterilized jars. Bring the brining solution (without any pickles in it) to a boil and pour the hot brine over the pickles. Seal the jars and hot bath them for 15 minutes. Check that they have sealed and store them as you would any other canned food. they will remain good for more than a year.