How to Pickle Cucumbers Crispy

cucumbers

🥗Healthier: English cucumbers

💰Cheaper: pickling cucumbers

English cucumbers are lower in calories, while pickling cucumbers are often cheaper.

vinegar

🥗Healthier: apple cider vinegar

💰Cheaper: white vinegar

Apple cider vinegar may offer more flavor and nutrients, while white vinegar is typically less expensive.

Slice cucumbers and set aside. Be sure to discard the slice with the blossom end as this is where enzymes are located that can contribute to soggy pickles.

Place garlic cloves, dried bay leaves, and fresh oak, bay or grape leaves at the bottom of a clean 1/2 gallon mason jar.

Place sliced cucumbers on top of seasonings. Mix sea salt, liquid whey or sauerkraut juice with the quart of water (or a water/vinegar mixture if you prefer a more vinegar flavor to your pickles) into the fermentation brine water and carefully pour over the top of the cucumbers.

Leave about an inch at the top of the jar and screw on the lid. Add optional fermentation weight to keep cucumbers beneath the surface of the water. This will help prevent mold. I just use a smooth stone from my yard that I sterilized in hot water.

Leave fermented cucumbers on the counter for 2 days. After 2 days, remove one cucumber slice with a clean fork and taste. If it is crunchy and pleasantly sour, then refrigerate. Your pickles are done. If not, leave on the counter for another day, tasting each additional day to determine when the pickles taste pleasantly sour and are yet are still crunchy.

If a small bit of foamy bubbles is on top of the brine water, it’s not a problem. Just remove it and refrigerate. If there is a lot of mold with long tendrils down into the water, the batch has not taken properly. Discard and try again using more starter and/or vinegar with your next batch and/or a fermentation weight as a preventative.

Properly cultured cucumbers, aka probiotic pickles, will last several months in the refrigerator.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary