I love pickles. The real pickles that float in cloudy briny liquid with chunks of dill and mustard seeds.. And garlic. And peppercorns.
Bubbies makes decent pickles but who wants to pay $6 for a tiny jar? If you happen to like them as much as I do – make your own! There is not much to it.
Naturally fermented pickles contain a huge amount of probiotics called lactobacilli plantarum, which are highly beneficial for digestion, prevention of chronic disease (source), improvement of skin (source); plus contain all the countless vitamins and minerals of raw cucumber. Serve them with your burger, add them to egg or potato salads, slice little pieces to top your pizza. You can even put some on your peanut butter sandwich, it sounds odd but tastes really good!
In the past, I would throw cukes with spices and salt in a jar, leave a couple of inches of air space and put a lid on. More often than not, the brine would overflow from all the CO2 pushing out. Which is okay, but messy.
Then my husband made me this little handy thing based on this Home Brew Talk suggestion.
Basically, he drilled a hole in a lid of a gallon jar from Target, put this airlock thingie and a rubber grommet that you can find at brewing supply and health food stores. Grommets make a tight seal between the jar content and the airlock. The airlock keeps air from entering the jar while letting CO2, which is a by-product of fermentation, to escape without creating pressure.
The folks who run Pickle-It website, which I really admire because of their personal story and information with solid references, also sell airlock jars, if you are not a do-it-yourselfer. Or just use the simple method of using a regular lid; remember to leave a couple of inches of space between the lid and the top of brine. After all, my grandma didn’t have an airlock, and her pickles came out mighty fine.
Some tips I learned from the Russian folks who consume pickles in the same amounts as oxygen:
 * Cut the tips of the cucumbers off, especially the side where the flower was. The reason is flowers contain an enzyme that causes these veggies to soften.
 * Soak cucumbers in plain water for a few hours to eliminate air bubbles. Not sure about the mechanism of that action but folks swear that it makes the final product crisp.
 * Use a lot of plant leaves that contains tannins (grape, raspberry, currant, horseradish). This makes your pickles crisper.
*Â Use a little pickle juice or sauerkraut juice to jump start the process, especially during cooler weather.
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1 comment
Hi Valeria!
I’m not sure if it’s my browser or not, but your recipe for your lacto-fermented pickles is not showing! I really look forward to trying it out, your pictures of them look absolutely yummy!