These are those crisp pickles that snap in your mouth. Crunchy because they are uncooked, making them the hands-down easiest pickles you can make.
You need a saucepan, cheesecloth, jars, or a crock, and the ingredients. Maybe a funnel if you’re using jars. It takes about 15 minutes top to bottom if you use ice cubes instead of cold water.
I have a thing for alliteration, so could not resist putting dill in the title, but fennel is a nice alternative.
Aging them for 2 days makes them what is called “half-sour”, aging for 4 or more days is called: “full sour”.
Note that the longer you age the pickles, the more yeast will form on the top. Try to skim it off, as this will affect the pickle taste. It’s perfectly safe though and a natural part of the kosher pickle.
If the yeast weirds you out, then stop aging the pickles at two days.
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Boiling water
- 2 Tbsp White Vinegar
- 2-3 Tsp Pickling Salt I use dover gray salt
- 2 Cups Cold Water or equivalent in icecubes.
- 1 Lb Pickling Cucumbers With the ends trimmed off.
- 1 Grape Leaf If you can get one. This helps with crsipness
- 2 Cloves Garlic Peeled and smashed
- 2 Hot Peppers Dried
Flavouring Herb
- 1 Stalk Dill or
- 1 Stalk Fennel Fresh, and preferably with seeds. Same with the dill if you use that instead. If fresh dill or fennel are not available, use 2tsp of seeds.
Optional Spices/Seasonings
- 1 Tsp Peppercorns
- 1 Tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1 Tsp Coriander Seeds
- 1 Tsp Allspice Seeds
- 1 1/3 Fresh Ginger Root
Instructions
- The optional spices are a list of common pickling spices. You will want to use at least one of them, but don’t use them all, or if you do, use no more than 1tablespoon total.
Brine
- Dissolve the pickling salt in the saucepan with boiling water and vinegar, and include your chosen dried spices.
- Add the cold water to the brine. If you are not sure how to measure 2 cups of ice cubes, pour the hot brine into a 4-cup glass measuring cup and add the ice cubes until the volume of the glass measures 3 cups.
Jarring
- Making sure the cucumbers are washed first, slice them lengthwise into halves or quarters.
- Put the sliced cucumbers in the 1 quart jar (or 2 pint jars), with the garlic and grape leaf. Keep the leaf close to the top so you can remove it later.
- Pour the brine over this and cover the jar with cheesecloth. You may secure this with either a rubber band, or the ring of the jar if you are using canning jars.
- Put the jar in a dark cool corner to ferment. Leave them for 2 – 6 days depending on how sour you like your pickles.
- Remove the grape leaf, put the jar lid on, and put into the refrigerator.
- Lasts up to 2 months in the refrigerator.
