Ingredients: Freshly picked pickling cucumbers, all roughly the same size. (Don't put big and small cukes in the same jar)
2-3 heads of garlic, with cloves & separated, the roots trimmed, and peeled (smack-peeling is fine) 2-3 dill heads (or 4-5 medium sprigs) Suggested Spice Blend: (Dill pickles with only garlic and dill are delightful; spices totally optional) 5 tsp. coriander seeds 1 tsp. whole cloves 1 tsp. mustard seed 1" of cinnamon stick 1 tsp. allspice berries 1 tsp. peppercorns 1 tsp. fennel seeds 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (if you like a little heat, or more, to taste) 1 bay leaf OR 3 TBS Frontier's Organic Original Spicy Pickling Spice To promote crunchy pickles: 2 grape leaves, OR 4-5 Raspberry, cherry, or blackberry leaves, OR 2-3 white oak leaves (identifying a white oak tree) Jar: 5 Liter Jar (For smaller jar, mix dry whole spices as listed above, then use appropriate portion of spices) Brine: 3.5% Brine for half-sour, or 5% Brine for full sour pickles Ferment: 7-12 days (Skinny pickles take less time, and large pickles take longer. Also affected by temperature range.) Temperature: 68-72ºF Ideal Range
Preparation: (See Quick Start Guide for explanations)
NOTES: Cloudiness is normal, and expected with dill pickles. Many fermented vegetables develop cloudiness in the brine, and this is completely normal, unless it's slimy or foul smelling. See Detecting Spoilage if you have more questions. Our Alaska Experience: We stored our cucumber-dill pickles ~ 6 Large (5 Liter) Jars of them ~ in our well-house this past winter. The well-house hovers at a nice 36ºF in the winter time, and I didn't realize during this hot summer as it was reaching temperatures of 80ºF in the shade, that my well-house had warmed up to 60ºF. I fully expected the rest of last year's sauerkraut and pickles to be soft and to have lost their crunch, but was delighted to find that they were in perfect full-crunch condition, even though they were not rescued until the end of July! The last Jar of lacto-fermented dill pickles from August 2012 that we started dipping into in July 2013.
25 Comments
Phyllis Corella
5/29/2015 07:49:48 pm
Do you just put the raspberry leaves in the jar at the initial setup? Thanks. I'm waiting for my jars. Can't wait to try this.
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Karen
5/29/2015 11:59:14 pm
Thank you for pointing this out. I put the raspberry leaves in at the beginning, on the bottom of the Jar along with the herbs and spices, before loading the pickles. Then I remove them as we're using the pickles and they're getting in the way. :) I've adjusted the instructions.
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Phyllis Corella
5/30/2015 01:25:54 am
Karen,
Karen
5/30/2015 01:59:31 am
Phyllis, we're glad to have you on board! :)
Elisa
10/19/2015 01:44:29 am
Can you tell me if you typical make half-sour or full-sour? Thank you.
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Karen
4/18/2016 09:34:27 pm
Hello Elisa,
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Paula
4/18/2016 05:00:41 am
How do the leaves contribute to the "crunchiness" of the pickle? Newer to fermenting and just fascinated by all this. You have a wonderful website. Soooo very helpful. Thanks!
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Karen
4/18/2016 09:38:22 pm
Hello Paula,
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Janey
5/2/2016 11:20:06 pm
Hello, can you use a folded cabbage leaf to keep cucumbers submerged if necessary
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1/7/2017 04:18:09 pm
Hi Janey,
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Evelyn
1/7/2017 01:48:46 pm
Hi Karen, I am interested in Janey's question about the folded cabbage leaf keeping the cucumbers under the brine.
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Janine
7/5/2017 07:29:30 am
I see the reference to whiteness/blotchiness, but it's not clear when they are ready to eat--how long after the ferment? Weeks? Months?
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Marie Kelemen
8/4/2018 10:48:17 am
First time fermenter. I am 8 days into my dill pickles and I noticed my garlic has a green Hue to it otherwise everything looks good. Is something going on??? Am I developing mold in my jar? Please help me.
Reply
Hellen Sencza
10/13/2018 05:46:41 pm
Mom's 'canned pickles' recipe used a piece of wild horseradish ( even a pc of the stem) to retain crunchiness.
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Phyllis Corella
10/14/2018 03:48:03 am
Hellen, No I have never tried horseradish. But I will certainly try next year when once again I will be growing cucumbers. Thanks.
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Peggy
8/8/2021 07:37:26 pm
I made my first batch of dill pickles and they grew mold on the top. Can you tell me why that happened and how to prevent it next time?
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Karen Ross
5/19/2023 08:54:39 am
Either you did not use a properly sealing Probiotic Jar, or correct Brine salinity. It is important to carefully mix both and ensure the seals are intact, and trim the blossom ends of the cucumbers, and ensure everything is clean going into the Jar. I have prepared hundreds of batches and never had unexpected spoilage.
Reply
Lewis Hopper
5/18/2023 02:04:01 pm
I live in a rural area and dont have access to any of the leaves you recomend can I use tea bags?
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Lewis Hopper
7/15/2023 08:36:35 am
Do the grape leaves or other leaves need to be fresh and green or can they be dried?
Reply
Karen
7/18/2023 10:10:23 am
Hi Lewis! I have never tried dried but I don't see why it wouldn't work as long as the drying process wasn't too hot. Should still include the tannins that protect the crunch! Try it and let us know!
Reply
Hanna Siegel
7/27/2023 05:39:59 pm
Hi. I hope you are still answering questions ten years later.
Reply
Karen
7/27/2023 06:33:28 pm
Hello Hanna!
Reply
Randall Reliford
8/19/2023 09:15:32 pm
Opps, I started a batch of dill pickles before reading the instructions on dill pickles. I didn’t have a lot of cucumbers from my garden and they varied quite a bit in size and I thick sliced them and packed them in the 2 liter probiotic jar and used 5% brine with the super fine pink Himalayan salt. Should I just put them in the fridge in a few days and hopefully they won’t get too mushy. I wish I would have put a bay leaf in, I had some handy. I’ve mostly just made sauerkraut in the past and this is the first time for dill pickles for me.
Reply
Karen
8/20/2023 09:36:55 am
Hi there Randall - I don't think they are going to turn out, but they might. I would put them on the counter for five days, then move them to the fridge, and try them once they're cold. They will ferment far more quickly since you sliced them. Let me know :)
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