It is so easy to make lacto fermented dill pickles with fresh cucumbers from the garden. This time of year, cucumbers are in abundance. This post will show you how to make easy lacto fermented dill pickles for a healthy, natural probiotic treat!
I absolutely LOVE pickles. When I was growing up, we would visit my grandmother in the summer in New York and get the best Kosher dill fermented pickles. Just thinking about the sour, salty pickle makes my mouth water. When I started gardening, cucumbers were the first thing I wanted to grow. I wanted to be able to recreate that sour, garlicky taste that I had loved growing up. This fermented dill pickle recipe is pretty darn close to what I remember all those years ago.
If you haven't tried fermented pickles, I think you will be surprised by how delicious they are. I enjoy making pickles with vinegar as well. Take a look at my easy refrigerator pickle recipe. But.... nothing can really compare to a properly fermented pickle. Not only are they yummy, they are also full of health benefits that vinegar-based pickles can't give you.
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What is Lacto Fermentation and Why Should you do it?
There's a lot to fermentation, but here are the basics of what you need to know. Lacto-fermentation is a process in which good bacteria converts sugars into lactic acid. Lactic acid is a natural preservative. Lactic acid and lactobacillus, the good bacteria, preserve flavor and nutritional value of vegetables. They are super healthy for our digestion and our internal microbiome. That's why I try to eat fermented foods every day.
The process of fermentation using salt, water and vegetables makes the vegetables taste good, makes them easier to digest and is really healthy. Just think about eating fermented vegetables like taking a probiotic every day. Fermentation of vegetables is really simple.
Supplies Needed for Making Easy Lacto Fermented Dill Pickles
Supplies you will need are:
Cucumbers - I like to use a pickling variety called the Chicago Pickling cucumber. Pickling cucumbers give a better crunch to your pickles. They also absorb the flavors better. Other types of cucumbers will work as well.
Salt - Make sure to use non-iodized salt. I like this Celtic sea salt.
Non-chlorinated water.
Kitchen Scale - This is really important for measuring out your salt. All salts have different volumes, so weighing out your salt is the most accurate way to get the right amount.
Herbs and Spices - I used garlic and dill. You can add anything you want. Some ideas might be peppercorns, pepper flakes or pickling spice.
Weights or Cabbage Leaves - It's important to put something on top of your pickles to hold them beneath the brine. You can use weights, cabbage leaves, cucumbers or other vegetables.
Cutting board - Here's the cutting boards that I have.
Knife - You will need a sharp knife to cut your cucumbers.
Jars - I used quart jars, but you can use whatever size you need for the amount of pickles that you are making.
Step by Step - How to Make Fermented Pickles
Here are the steps for fermenting cucumbers:
Preparing the Cucumbers
- First, cut off the ends of the cucumbers. Save for your chickens or to put in your compost pile. Note: It's important to cut off the blossom end of the cucumber. It contains an enzyme that will make your pickles less crunchy. If you're not sure which end is the blossom end, just cut off both ends.
- Wash the cucumbers.
- Cut cucumbers into slices. You can also cut them into quarters or even leave them whole.
- Place your herbs and spices in the bottom of the jar. I used two garlic cloves and a couple of sprigs of fresh dill in each quart jar.
- After that, pack cucumbers tightly in a glass jar. Any size jar will do. I like to use a quart jar. I find the wide mouth jars are easier to work with.
- Make sure to get as many vegetables in the jar as possible. Having them tightly packed will help ensure that the vegetables stay under the brine.
- Then cover your vegetables with something to keep them submerged under the brine. It's important that you do not have anything floating on top. You can use something like a cabbage leaf, cucumber slices or a glass weight to hold the vegetables down.
Preparing the Brine
Make your brine using salt and water. You will want to make a 3.5 - 5% brine for cucumbers. Make sure you have enough salt for lacto-fermentation to occur but not too much salt that your vegetables are salted and not fermented. Measuring your salt by weight is a good way to stay accurate. It's best to measure by weight because all salts have different volumes.
Even if you don’t have the exact salinity, you should still be safe. Lacto-fermentation is quite forgiving. Just make sure that if you see or smell something that doesn’t look right, you don’t eat it. In this case, throw it away and start over.
- For my brine, I measured four cups of water, or one quart. Make sure you are using filtered water, or non-chlorinated water. Use a scale to weigh your salt. Cucumbers require a 3.5 - 5% salinity to successfully ferment. You will want about 47 grams of salt for four cups of water.
- Mix the salt with the water until it dissolves. To dissolve the salt more quickly, you can use warmer water, but room temperature water will work too. The temperature of the water does not really matter too much as long as you make sure it isn’t too hot.
- Pour the brine over the vegetables in the jar until the vegetables are fully covered. You don’t want anything poking out of the brine!
- Put the lid on the jar and close tightly. You can use a regular lid or an airlock lid that lets air escape during the fermentation process.
Next Steps
- It is important to let the cucumbers sit at room temperature out of direct sunlight for 3-6 days.
- Cucumbers can be a little finicky to ferment, so you will want to start tasting them right at 3 days. If they are not sour enough for your taste, continue to taste them each day until they are to your liking.
- Place the jar of pickles in the refrigerator to stop the fermentation process when they are to your liking. These pickles can stay in the fridge for months, but I guarantee they won’t last that long.
Optionally, you can “burp” your jars of cucumbers by quickly opening and closing them each day to release some air. This is not a completely necessary step. I never do it.
What's Normal During Fermentation?
The brine will get cloudy.
Your pickles may get fizzy or bubbly.
Finished pickles will have a darker color than fresh cucumbers.
What's Not Normal During Fermentation?
Mold, funny smells and mushy vegetables are not normal. If it doesn't look, smell or taste right, just throw that batch away and start over. Use your senses to guide you. Pickles can be finicky, especially for your first ferment, so don't worry if the first batch doesn't go as you hoped. But don't give up! These pickles are definitely worth it!
Fermentation is so easy and so delicious. I know you will love these lacto feremented dill pickles!!
How to Make Easy Lacto Fermented Dill Pickles
Ingredients
- Cucumbers (pickling or other- about one pound)
- Sea Salt
- Non-chlorinated Water
- Herbs and spices such as dill, garlic, peppercorns, hot pepper flakes and/or pickling spice
Instructions
- Cut off the ends of the cucumbers.
- Wash the cucumbers.
- Cut cucumbers into slices. You can also cut them into quarters or even leave them whole.
- Place your herbs and spices in the bottom of the jar. I used two garlic cloves and a couple of sprigs of fresh dill in each quart jar.
- Pack cucumbers tightly in a quart size glass jar.
- Make sure to get as many vegetables in the jar as possible. Having them tightly packed will help ensure that the vegetables stay under the brine.
- Cover your vegetables with something to keep them submerged under the brine. It's important that you do not have anything floating on top. You can use something like a cabbage leaf, cucumber slices or a glass weight to hold the vegetables down.
- Measure four cups (1 quart) of non-chlorinated, room temperature water.
- Add 47 grams of non-iodized salt to the water and stir to dissolve.
- Pour the brine over the vegetables in the jar until the vegetables are fully covered. You don’t want anything poking out of the brine.
- Put the lid on the jar and close tightly.
- Let the cucumbers sit at room temperature out of direct sunlight for 3-6 days.
- Place them in the refrigerator to stop the fermentation process when they are to your liking.
Notes
- It's important to cut off the blossom end of the cucumber. It contains an enzyme that will make your pickles less crunchy. If you're not sure which end is the blossom end, just cut off both ends.
- I used about one pound of cucumbers per quart jar. It depends on how you cut them and how tightly you pack them in. Use whatever sized jar you need to for your cucumbers.
- Cucumbers can be a little finicky to ferment, so you will want to start tasting them right at 3 days. If they are not sour enough for your taste, continue to taste them each day until they are to your liking.
Normal Fermentation:
- The brine will get cloudy.
- Your pickles may get fizzy or bubbly.
- Finished pickles will have a darker color than fresh cucumbers.
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47 grams is way too much for a quart. Did you mean 4-7 grams?
In my recipe, I measure out about four cups of water (about 946 ml). For a 5% brine, I add 47 grams of salt (946 ml * .05 = 47 g). You can definitely go lower, but for cucumbers, usually a 3.5% to 5% ( 33 g to 47 g salt per 946 ml water) brine is recommended. And, you don't end up using the full four cups of brine since the cucumbers take up some of the space in the quart jar. So if you only wanted to measure out two cups of water (about 473 ml), I would use about 17g to about 24g of salt. Then you can always make more brine if needed. I usually try to make as many quarts as I can all at once if I can get enough cucumbers from the garden!