Pickle Time

Yesterday, I went to Sauvie Island and bought 25 lbs of pickling cucumbers and a big bundle of dill, among other things.

Yep, it's pickle time!

To begin with, I dumped all the pickles in the sink and washed them.

Then I put my big canning pot on the stove with some water, and when it was boiling I started sterilizing my jars. My canner fits 8 1-quart jars at a time, so I worked in batches of 8.

I also started my brine. The brine recipe I used for my vinegar-cured pickles is simple:

2 quarts water
2 quarts white vinegar
1 cup salt
1/2 cup sugar

Bring  the brine to a boil, turn down to low and cover while you prep the jars. Once sterilized (about 10 minutes boiling in the canner) I pulled them out with a jar-lifter and put them on a towel on the counter.

Add to each jar:

2 cloves of garlic (sliced in half)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
6-10 whole peppercorns
1 dried red chili
5-6 whole coriander seeds
1-2 heads of fresh dill and some dill fronds

Pack with clean cucumbers (I leave them whole if  they're small, and slice larger ones into quarters lengthwise) and top with one or two grape, cherry, or oak leaves (the tannic acid keeps the pickles crisp). Then ladle hot brine over the top. Fill to about 1/2" from the rim, put the 2-part lids on, just lightly finger-tighten the rings, and place in the canner to process for 15 minutes. Remove and let cool, then tighten the rings and place them in your pantry. These will keep at least 2 years.

For the remaining pickles, I planned on lactic-acid fermentation, so I used this brine recipe:

4 quarts water
1 cup salt
1/2 cup vinegar

In addition to sterilizing the jars, wash and sterilize an equal number of stones (granite, quartz, or basalt, avoid limestone) just small enough to fit in the mouths of the jars.

Prepare the jars with seasonings and pack with cucumbers exactly as with the vinegar pickles, but rather than boiling the brine, just stir the salt in at room-temperature until it dissolves. Fill the jars with brine and place a stone on top of each, to weight down the pickles and keep them below the level of the brine. This is crucial, otherwise your pickles will mold!

Place a clean towel on a shelf in a cool, dry cabinet, put your jars on it (in case they overflow a little during fermentation) and cover them with a very clean lightweight kitchen cloth. Check them every couple of days and if any scum forms on the brine, remove the scum and top the jar off with fresh brine (you can keep some in a jar in the fridge for this purpose).

You really only want to try lactic-acid fermented pickles in the fall when the weather is cool. 70-ish degree temperatures are perfect. If it's over 80, they'll go squishy and gross, and if it's under 60 it will still work but they'll take forever. However, a nice cool lower cabinet in your kitchen in late September is probably a perfect place to ferment pickles.

After 3 days,  your pickles will probably start tasting pickle-y. After 3-4 weeks, they will be fully fermented. At this point, you can either place them in the refrigerator, where they will keep happily for several months, or you can heat-process them for longer storage. To do this, get your canner ready! Drain all the brine into a clean pot and heat it to a simmer, then ladle it back into the jars with your pickles, put lids on (again, loosely finger-tightening the rings for now) and process in the canner for 15 minutes. Remove, cool, and store just as with the vinegar-cured pickles.

Enjoy!

P.S. I paid $19.95 for 25 pounds of cucumbers. Even adding the cost of the salt, vinegar, and spices, I ended up with 26 quarts of pickles (there were enough for 28 but I wanted a salad) at less than a dollar a quart. I don't count the cost of the jars, as I use the same jars again year after year, but jars are about $10/dozen.