Pickles Homemade Fermented

[supervman]

These little puppies are FABULOUS !

Pickle Recipes - NO COOK DILL PICKLES - VMAN THIS IS WHAT I MADE AND THEY WERE GREAT !!! DO in your favorite crock w LID or a 5 Gal. Restaurant bucket
4 lbs. small Cucumbers
8 cups Distilled Water ( ½ Gallon )
¼ cup Pickling Salt (or non-iodized table salt)
2 TBSP Pickling Spices
5 Garlic Cloves, coarsely chopped
1 bunch Fresh Dill ( 1 oz pkg )
1 slice day-old Rye Bread ( NO PRESERVATIVES )

Wash Cucumbers thoroughly and arrange them in a 1-gallon glass jar (sun tea jars are perfect IF BURPED daily OR your Favorite Crock). Dissolve Salt in Water and pour over Cukes. Add Spices and Garlic. Lay Dill and Rye Bread on top of Cukes. Cover with plastic wrap, or a plate, and place a heavy object (a clean rock or can of soup) on the wrap to keep Cukes submerged. Let stand 3 days at Room Temperature. . Refrigerate 5 days. Remove pickles from jar, strain and reserve liquid. ( Toss Chunks ) Store pickles in strained liquid in refrigerator for up to 6 months. Makes 1 gallon. (these ferment like Sauerkraut not pickle like w Vinegar) Quantity: An average of 14 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 9 pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 48 pounds and yields 16 to 24 quarts – an average of 2 pounds per quart.
Quality: Select firm cucumbers of the appropriate size: about 1-1/2 inches for gherkins and 4 inches for dills. Use odd-shaped and more mature cucumbers for relishes and bread-and-butter style pickles.
Gauging Brine Strength: - Added to 1 Quart of Water, each TBSP of Sea Salt adds 1.8% Brine.
So 2 TBSP of Salt in 1 Quart of Water yields 3.6% Brine, 3 TBSP yields 5.4%, and so on.
Low-Salt Pickles, around 3.5% Brine are “HALF SOURS” in delicatessen lingo.
THIS Recipe is for SOUR, fairly salty pickles, using around 5.4% Brine.
If the Brine doesn’t cover the weighted down plate add more brine mixed at the same ratio: of just under 1 TBSP Salt to each CUP of Distilled Water.

 

[smokin out the neighbors]

Sounds Great. I'll try it this summer when My cukes get ripe.

 

[supervman]

Dude -
It's FABULOUS.
You MUST use distilled water, because tap w chlorine won't let it ferment.
the guy is "out there" but check out www.wildfermentation.com
he is basically a communist but he KNOWS how to ferment. Pickles, Kim Chee, Kraut (excellent BTW), hard cider and much other.

 

[supervman]

I was recently asked by a member the purpose of the bread and if there can be substitutions. Excellent question.

Here's the deal. The day old dried out piece of bread picks up lots of beneficial spores and microbes which promote a "quick start" of the fermentation process.

Any kind of bread will work even w preservatives, however, NO Preservatives are preferred as the preservatives retard the fermentation quick start somewhat. You can still use it and it still helps to quick start fermentation, but it's faster w no preservatives.

As far as the type of bread, it can be ANY kind. I obtained the recipe from a Jewish friend who got it from his Great Grandmother. So Jewish Deli Rye was their preferred flavor and they, most likely, had it around all the time.

Hope this helps.

 

[supervman]

One more Point since I'm revisiting the process -
If some "scum" develops on the surface of the brine DON'T FREAK OUT!
It's normal. Just scrape it off. Pickle Heads refer to it as "bloom" sounds more tasty I guess.

The pickles will be safe if 100% submerged in the brine. Thus the plate and weight or a large Ziplock w Water to hold em down.

Your nose is always the best test anyway. Scrubbing your pickles WELL before you start is very helpful.

 

[jimr]

Can these pickles, after the fermentation process in the crock, be canned for winter use or is this recipe for short term usage??

 

[supervman]

Well, the deal is - they should be refrigerated and used "within" six months. LOL! I'd be SHOCKED if they made it half that long.

I also assume you mean "water processing" which involves boiling. I WOULD NOT do that to these pickles under any circumstances. If that is what you want to do then use a different recipe.

These pickels are like you get from the wooden barrel in an old Jewish Deli.
They're fantastic. I swear, try em once, you're hooked.

I made a 12 pound batch one time last summer and didn't even get a pickle. Girls ate em up in 3 days. Yeah, I know, the Doctor would NOT approve that message.

I DO remove them from Crock and put into sterilized Mason jars with the brine and they are said to keep 6 months. I'd guess longer but you'll NEVER get there :)