At my farmer’s market, there’s an amazing pickle stand with about 12 different kinds of delicious homemade pickles. They have garlic pickles, super dilly dill pickles, sweet pickles, spicy pickles and all the flavors in between. I love my pickles so the pickle stand was a weekly must stop for me.
…..Until I realized how ridiculously easy it was to make my own homemade pickles. I’m talking really, really easy. I can’t stress to you how simple this is. Like so easy I could kick myself for spending so much of my hard earned money at the pickle stand for years and years when I could have been making them myself all this time. No canning, no special equipment – just water, salt, spices and your cucumbers! Easy peasy.
This will literally take you 10 minutes tops and in 3-7 days, you’ll have the best homemade pickles in town. I like to make a bunch of jars of pickles at one time while I have all the ingredients out. I can knock out a couple jars of pickles in no time flat.
The recipe down below is a basic recipe for old fashioned homemade easy dill pickles and it’s my very favorite, cut right out of a falling apart old, old church recipe book that I think was my grandmother’s (best kind of recipes, right?!). But, I also like to experiment with the spices, add some hot peppers to one jar, add extra garlic to another jar – you get the idea.
Oh! I almost forgot to tell you about the second best part of this recipe – or maybe it’s the first best part, I can’t decide between this and how easy they are. These pickles are lacto-fermented, which means they contain the really good, beneficial bacteria (probiotics!). So eating these will help heal our gut lining, provide anti-inflammatory benefits, give us better digestion, strengthen our immune system, and turn us into super heroes. Okay maybe not so much the last part, but I sure feel like a super hero when everyone who eats these pickles tells me how amazing they are 🙂
handful of fresh grape, raspberry, oak, blackberry or cherry leaves (these types of leaves supply tannins, which help keep the pickles crispy and crunchy)
onion or a clean rock piece to weigh the cucumbers down and keep them submerged in the brine
DIRECTIONS:
Decide what size pickles you would like and cut your cucumbers into your desired size. Keep in mind that sliced cucumbers will ferment faster than whole cucumbers. Pack your cucumber slices into your jar. Pack them tight! Add the spices on top. Mix the water and sea salt together until the salt is dissolved. Pour your water/salt over the pickles. Leave about an inch of space between the water and the top of the jar. All the cucumbers must be submerged in the water. If you are having trouble getting them totally submerged, you may need to add a “weight” to the jar to keep them submerged. I like to add a big chunk of onion. Not only does the onion give great flavor, but it does a good job of keeping the cucumbers under the water. You may also add a clean rock if you don’t want to use an onion.
Put a top on your jar and leave on the counter for 3 days. Test a pickle on day 3. If it is to your liking, put the jar in the fridge. This stops the fermentation process. You won’t have to worry about keeping the pickles submerged once they go in the fridge. If the pickles are not to your liking, keep testing them each day. You know they are perfect when they taste great to you and they still have their crunch. If you leave them out on the counter too long, they will lose their crunch and get really soft so it’s important to put them in the fridge when they are to your liking. No one likes a limp pickle 😉
If you start to see a white film or mold on top, just skim it off. It is harmless (just yeast!), but it will impact the taste of the pickles, so you want to skim it off as soon as you see it.
Your pickles will keep for 6 months in the fridge. Enjoy!
Vinegar is the most important ingredient in quick-pickle recipes. Without an adequate amount, the pickles will not be safe to eat. Use any vinegar with 5% acidity. Select tender vegetables without blemishes or mold .
This salt treatment draws water out of the cucumbers and flavors them, so it's critically important. After layering or mixing in plenty of sea salt, I cover the salted cukes with ice cubes and a tea towel and forget about them for a few hours.
The best way to keep your pickles crisp is by taking an extra moment to remove the blossom from the end of the cucumber. By adding this extra cut, you have a crisper pickle. Other ways to ensure a crisp pickle is by adding grape leaves to your jar. I tend to cut off both ends of the cucumber as I quickly process them.
Crispness can also be lost if cucumbers are stored longer than 24 hours in the refrigerator from harvest to pickling. Thoroughly wash each cucumber, especially around the stem area, where soil can be trapped. Any remaining soil may be a source of bacteria and can cause a soft pickle.
Using too much alum will actually decrease firmness. Food Grade Lime – Lime or calcium hydroxide has been used for years for pickle crispness as it improves pickle firmness when cucumbers are soaked in a lime solution for 12 to 24 hrs prior to pickling.
Most pickle recipes call for distilled white vinegar. This is the clear, colorless vinegar made by fermenting grains. It has a mellow aroma, tart acid flavor and does not affect the color of light-colored vegetables or fruits.
For quick pickles, a basic brine is equal parts vinegar and water, but you can adjust the ratio to your preference. Any basic vinegar is game — white vinegar, apple cider, white wine, and rice vinegar all work well. You can use these vinegars alone or in combination.
Vinegar-based pickling is a much faster process than fermentation pickling. In its quickest form, you'll just boil a vinegar solution, pour it over the the object of your pickling desire, let it all cool and stash it in the fridge.
Label and date your jars and store them in a clean, cool, dark, and dry place such as a pantry, cabinet, or basem*nt. Don't store in a warm spot! To allow pickles to mellow and develop a delicious flavor, wait at least 3 weeks before eating! Keep in mind that pickles may be ready to enjoy earlier.
The temperature can bring out flavors, which leach into the brine. She recommends using hot brine to pickle opaque vegetables or spices such as root vegetables, kabocha squash and garlic. Cold brines are useful if you're looking to preserve the texture and crunch of a vegetable.
These guys aren't ready right away – they need some time in the fridge to soak up the brine and become really flavorful. Dill pickle chips will be ready in 24 hours, while spears will take at least 48. They'll keep in the fridge for several weeks, and they get better as time goes on. For best flavor, wait about 5 days.
This can happen when the blossom ends of the cucumbers are not removed. Cut 1/16-inch off blossom ends of cucumbers. The blossom end contains an enzyme that may cause softening. This can also happen if the brine or vinegar was too weak.
They act as natural preservatives, helping to maintain the firmness and texture of fruits and vegetables during the pickling process. When added to pickling brine, bay leaves infuse the cucumbers with these tannins, ensuring they remain delightfully crunchy even after months of storage.
Ascorbic Acid Vitamin C Powder: This substance is naturally derived from various vegetables and fruits and can be used as an alum substitute for pickling and preserving food.
If good quality ingredients are used and up-to-date methods are followed, firming agents are not needed. Alum has little crispness affect on quick-process pickles. Alum will increase firmness of fermented pickles when used at levels up to ¼ teaspoon per pint, but greater amounts will decrease firmness.
Why are some batches of pickles crunchier than others? The ideal pickling cucumber is narrow, with small seeds, and thin skin. These characteristics make for a perfectly crunchy cucumber.
Alum and Citric Acid does not improve the firmness of quick-process pickles. Instead, you can use a product called Pickle Crisp from Ball. It is granules of calcium chloride.
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