When you first taste your pickles they will be salty and crunchy. They may not be fully pickled through the center of the cucumber but they will continue to 'pickle' while they are stored in the refrigerator.
Recipe courtesy of Old World Garden Farms
Ingredients
24 pickling cucumbers
1/2 gallon pure water
3 tablespoons sea salt
12 cloves garlic peeled
4 teaspoons dried dill seed
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
1 teaspoon black tea leaves or fresh grape leaves
Preparation
Submerge pickling cucumbers in cold water for 10 to 30 minutes to help keep them crisp.
While the cucumbers are soaking, make the brine by combining the water and sea salt and stir until the salt dissolves.
Cut the both ends off each cucumber. Then pack the crock with cucumbers. Once you have half of the cucumbers in the crock, add half of the garlic cloves, of dill seeds, peppercorns and black tea leaves.
Keep packing the cucumbers, stopping to sprinkle more of the other ingredients when the crock is 3/4 full.
Continue to fill the crock with cucumbers until 4 inches from the top of the crock.
Pour the prepared brine over the cucumbers until they are submerged.
Place the stone weights on top, or a plate with a rock on top. The cucumbers need to stay submerged in the liquid.
Place the lid on the crock or cover with a towel.
Now leave the cucumbers to ferment at room temperature for 3 to 7 days.
When they are done to your liking, remove the lid and plates/weights. It is completely normal to see bubbles at the top and also for the brine to become cloudy.
Transfer the fermented pickles to a gallon sized glass jar or plastic container and store in the refrigerator.
Note:
Fermented Cucumbers Vs. Dill Pickles
The basic difference between pickling and fermenting is the process of how they achieve that iconic sour flavor. Pickled vegetables are soaked in acidic brine which often includes the use of vinegar (acetic acid).
However, fermented foods are put in a salt water brine which may also include spices and sugar. This process develops anaerobic bacteria which then naturally converts carbohydrates to acetic acid to achieve that iconic ‘pickle’ flavor.
Therefore, with either process used acetic acid will preserve the cucumbers. And they both end up tasting like dill pickles.
