The Essential Book of Fermentation (36 page)

Best darn pickle ever!

If there’s anything you want most in a pickle, it’s a snappy crunch. And the brine helps with that. Consider: The water inside a cucumber has a much higher water-to-salt concentration than the brine, which has a higher salt-to-water concentration. Nature likes to even things out, and so through a process called osmosis, water in the cucumber flows out through the membrane of the cucumber skin to try to equalize the concentration, rendering the pickle crunchier than when it was first put into the brine.

Garlic Dill Pickles

This recipe can be scaled up or down, but I wanted to give you the basic instructions for 10 pounds of cukes. As for equipment, have a vegetable brush handy. You’ll need a 5-gallon ceramic or glass crock or a 5-gallon bucket of food-grade plastic. Please make sure it’s food-grade; that is, it originally was used to hold food. Other plastics leach toxic chemicals into their contents. You’ll need a glass or ceramic plate that just fits inside the crock or bucket, plus an unused gallon-size zip-top freezer bag, clean dish towels, a fresh package of cheesecloth, a large stainless-steel or other nonreactive metal pot, a carton of canning jars with lids and bands, and a narrow plastic spatula.

Note that the recipe calls for pickling spices. You can find them in the spice rack at almost any supermarket, but if you want to make your own, mix together crushed cinnamon sticks; bay leaves; ground allspice, mace, and ginger; the whole seeds of mustard, dill, black peppercorns, coriander, juniper berries, and cardamom; plus whole cloves.

Makes 3 or 4 quart jars, depending on the size of the cukes

10 pounds unwaxed pickling cucumbers

¼ cup pickling spices

2 bunches fresh dill

1 cup white vinegar

1 gallon spring or filtered water

¾ cup coarse pickling salt (not iodized) or sea salt

10 cloves garlic, peeled

1.
Scrub the surface of the cucumbers under cool running water to remove any incidental soil. Cut
¹
⁄
₁₆
inch off the blossom end of the cukes. Blossom ends contain enzymes that can render your pickles soft. Cut the stem ends back to where the cucumber flesh starts. Discard any cukes that are discolored, bruised, or soft.

2.
Put half the pickling spices and 1 bunch of dill in the bottom of your fermenting vessel. Add all the cucumbers.

3.
Mix the vinegar and water in a large bowl. Add the pickling salt and stir to dissolve it completely. Pour the mixture over the cucumbers. Add the garlic, the rest of the pickling spices, and the second bunch of dill.

4.
The cucumbers must be fully submerged under the brine at all times during the fermentation. Use a glass or ceramic plate that just fits in the vessel to weigh them down. Fill the gallon freezer bag with more vinegar-salt-water brine, shut it tightly, and set it on the plate (if it leaks, no harm done, as it won’t dilute the brine in the vessel; you may need some for topping up the vessel, and you may need it later if you are canning some of the pickles).

5.
Cover the vessel with a clean dish towel and place the crock in a spot where a temperature of from 70 to 75ºF is maintained. Lactobacilli work best at this temperature. Lower or higher temperatures favor unwanted spoilage bacteria or fungus spores.

6.
Check the crock every day, but don’t taste the pickles. After a day or two, you’ll see some scum forming on the surface of the brine.

ADDITIONS TO THE PICKLE CROCK

When making your pickles, add 2 fresh grape, cherry, oak, or bay leaves to the crock. These will give the pickles a little extra stringency from the tannins in the leaves and a slightly different new flavor.

This is yeast growth and must be removed or the pickles will spoil. Remove it every day. Keep the brine topped up with extra brine from the bag if needed.

7.
Let the cucumbers ferment until they become an even olive green color, about 2½ to 3 weeks. Taste a pickle. If it has good dill flavor and a sour taste, they’re done. If you want more time, allow them to continue fermenting, but no longer than 3 weeks. Pour off the brine into the stainless-steel or other nonreactive pot through several layers of cheesecloth to remove the solids and impurities. For immediate consumption, up to 6 to 8 weeks, store the pickles in the fridge in jars topped up with the brine. For long-term storage, you’ll have to can your pickles.

CANNING PICKLES

To can pickles, place them upright in wide-mouth canning jars that have been boiled along with their lids and bands to sterilize them. Fill the jars with brine brought boiling from the stove, leaving ½-inch head space in the jars. Insert the spatula and work it up and down around the pickles to remove trapped air. Place a lid and band on each jar and screw it down just until you feel a little resistance—finger tight. Process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes. If you don’t have a canner, use a large pot with a rack on the bottom to keep the jars from touching the bottom of the pot. Add enough water to reach from one third to halfway up the sides of the jars and boil covered for 15 minutes. Remove the jars from the canner or pot and give the bands an extra twist to tighten. The lids should soon pop down, showing that they have sealed. Store the pickles on a cool, dark pantry or basement shelf. Wait at least 1 week before using, to give the pickles a chance to integrate their flavors.

Additions to the Pickle Crock

When making your pickles, add 2 fresh grape, cherry, oak, or bay leaves to the crock. These will give the pickles a little extra stringency from the tannins in the leaves, and a slightly different new flavor.

Chowchow

Many people preserve chowchow by covering the vegetable medley with a vinegar, sugar, and salt mixture and processing it in a boiling water bath for 20 to 25 minutes. But chowchow can also be fermented, following the same regimen used to ferment pickles. Instead of cucumbers, make a medley of the following chopped vegetables, adding others or subtracting to your personal preference.

Makes 3 to 4 quarts

5 cups coarsely chopped green tomatoes

5 cups coarsely chopped ballhead cabbage

1½ cups chopped yellow onion

2 cups coarsely chopped red and green bell peppers

2½ cups cider vinegar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon celery seed

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste

1.
Prepare and place all ingredients in a crock or food-grade plastic container.

2.
Make enough brine (1 cup non-iodized or pickling salt to each quart of water) to cover the vegetables in the crock. Fit a plate on top of the vegetables so that it is submerged under the brine. Weight it with a quart jar filled with water and sealed.

3.
Cover the crock with a dish towel and inspect it every day or two, removing any scum that floats to the surface.

4.
After 3 weeks, pour off the brine through a strainer and reserve. Spoon chowchow into quart jars with lids and top up with the strained brine. Fix on the lids and store in the fridge. To reduce saltiness, place chowchow for that day’s use in a strainer and rinse it with cold water.

Fermented Pickle Relish

If you’re making those fabulous pickles from the recipe
here
, you could prepare a pickle relish by mincing several of those pickles and adding some finely chopped onion—or you can make this recipe. Load your next hot dog with mustard, your own
sauerkraut
, and this pickle relish. Or make a sandwich with sausage, grilled onions and peppers, chili sauce, sauerkraut, and this relish. Yum-ola.

Makes 1 quart

6 pickling cucumbers, minced

1 small yellow onion, chopped

3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1½ tablespoons sea salt

5 tablespoons fresh whey drained from yogurt

1.
Place the minced cukes in a medium bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Mix to incorporate well and make sure the salt dissolves.

2.
Place the mixture in a canning jar and press the mass down hard so the juices run. The liquid should cover the cucumber mixture. If it doesn’t, add enough filtered water or spring water so that the relish is covered.