Fermented Pickles

In an effort to get more probiotic and fermented foods into my family’s diet, I have tried some new ferments that may be more kid and husband friendly. I actually like these better than store-bought fermented pickles, but they are an acquired taste. I flavor them similarly to my refrigerator pickles. I’ve only made one batch and they were with garden fresh cucumbers and they stayed crisp so I’m looking forward to trying this again with various cucumbers.

Fermented Pickles

Ingredients

• 2-3 cucumbers, sliced
• 1 quart filtered water
• 2 tablespoons course Celtic sea salt
• 2-4 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1/2 teaspoon dill seed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
• quart size ball jar with airtight lid or airlock lid and glass place holder

Directions

Wash and slice cucumbers to shape and size desired.

Fill quart sized ball jar with filtered water and pour into a pot. Add salt to the pot.

Bring salt and water to a gentle boil and cook until salt dissolves. Let cool completely.

Place sliced cucumbers in a clean quart sized ball jar.

Add dill seed, dill weed, mustard seed and bay leaves to the jar.

Once salt water mixture has cooled completely, pour over cucumbers into ball jar, leaving a little over an inch headspace.

If using an airlock lid and glass place holder, place the glass on top of the cucumbers to hold them down under the liquid. If you don’t have a glass holder, use a ziplock bag filled with water to hold cucumbers down. Put the lid on, ensuring you still have about an inch of headspace in the jar.

Let sit at room temperature with little to no sunlight for 7 days. If using an airlock lid, the gas should escape so you won’t have to open the jar to burp. If using an airtight lid, open the jar about once per day so the gas can escape.

Also, sometimes the liquid comes out of the jar, so I usually set the jar on a plate.

They should be done in about 7 days. After 7 days, you can remove the glass place holder and the airlock lid and put an airtight lid on the jar.

Store in refrigerator and enjoy!