Miraculous Healing Fermented Pickles (vegan, gluten-free)
Ingredients:
CLEAN glass jar(s) that will tightly hold all the cucumbers/kirbies you want to make into pickles
lid that can make a tight seal for each glass jar: usually metal with plastisol liner.
FOR EACH JAR YOU WILL NEED
Enough water to fill the jar (actually a little less because the other contents will displace).
Noniodized salt in the ratio of 2 teaspoons per each cup of water (sea salt is acceptable, as is kosher salt).
Kirbies or cucumbers, unwaxed (organic or homegrown are best), enough to fit tightly in the jar
Sprigs dill
1 clove garlic or more
Whole yellow mustard seeds
1 grape leaf or witchhazel leaf or two whole bay leaves for tannin (to keep the pickles firm).
Horseradish root, peeled and cut into spears - as needed to hold cucumbers in place
Any of the following optional ingredients:
sprigs of fennel
whole coriander seeds
whole allspice seeds
whole caraway seeds
whole dill seeds
whole fennel seeds
turmeric root - either 1 oz root peelings or 1/2 teaspoon powder;
Instructions:
Brine-Fermented pickles do not contain vinegar.
Making pickle starter is usually not necessary! However, if you are having difficultly making pickles, you can try making a little starter and adding some to your pickle jar.
Making Starter
Making starter from scratch is a process that will take at least 3 days when room temperature is about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. There are many ways to make pickle starter, but here is one easy way: Juice a fresh cabbage and extract at least a quarter cup of cabbage juice. Put the juice with non-hallogenated water in a clear jar. Add a little non-iodized salt. It can be half the magic ratio. Slice up some cabbage in shreds and put the cabbage in the jar with the cabbage juice, water and salt. Note there are only 3 ingredients: cabbage, water, salt. Fold one whole cabbage leaf on top, to keep the cabbage shreds submerged. Put the lid on the jar and let it sit on the counter for several days. After 3 days taste it. If the cabbage is starting to turn into sauerkraut, then the liquid can be used as pickle starter.
Making Pickles
Rinse the kirbies/cucumbers in tap water, brushing if necessary. Dry them. You dry the kirbies so that they don't introduce chlorine or fluoride into the pickle brine.
Scrape off the ends of the pickles, just enough to remove the stem or bud attachment because those pieces of the pickle have plant hormones that may make the pickles go soft faster.
Test the cucumber arrangement in each jar. The cucumbers should fit tightly.
Remove the cucumbers from the jar.
Fill the jar to the top with tap water or non-hallogenated water (to measure the right amount of water).
Pour the water into a pot for boiling, cover the pot, turn on heat. Boil.
Add all the spices and vegetable ingredients into the jar. Do NOT add the cucumbers, nor horseradish, nor salt, nor water yet.
Remove lid from pot, add as much salt as needed. Stir with a chopstick to help the salt completely dissolve.
Put the lid back on the pot and allow liquid to cool to room temperature.
Squeeze all the cucumbers into the jar with the spices.
Cut spears of horseradish and wedge them between the cucumbers to hold the cucumbers in place; especially, to keep them submerged after the water is added.
When the salt water has reached room temperature, pour it into the jar with the cucumbers, completely covering the cucumbers.
Put the lid on tightly.
Do NOT open the jar again unless you are either ready to eat the pickles or discard them (if something went wrong).
The brine fermentation process should cause a vaccuum in the jar and seal the lid tighter.
Leave jar in room temperature for 3 days. Observe the pickle color. The pickles may first turn a bright green, before settling into the more familiar gray-green pickle color. The water will get cloudy as the pickles ferment. There may also be a few bubbles.
Once the pickle color is what you expect of pickles, put the jar in the refrigerator to slow the fermentation process.
Do not open the pickle jar until you are ready to eat the pickles. Once the jar is opened, fermented pickles will last up to another 3 weeks in your refrigerator.
Serving Information:
Eat pickles as a side with protein-rich meals.
Notes:
NOTE 1:
Magic ratio is 2 teaspoons large-granulated salt (like Kosher salt) per 1 cup water.
NOTE 2:
There are many ways to obtain non-halogenated water. If your tap water contains fluoride or chlorine, letting it stand for a day should allow enough halogen to dissipate out so that the water is usable.
Distilled water or spring water should work. If the water quality is good, artesian well water is another good choice.
NOTE 3:
One way that pickles can go bad is if they are not completely immersed in the brine. As pickles ferment they may shrink a little and that makes it possible for them to float. To prevent that, use the horseradish wedges to hold the pickles in place.
NOTE 4:
A good room temperature for making pickles is between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Storing pickles in the refrigerator slows down the fermentation process. The more pickles ferment, the more sour they taste.
Avoid excessive heat (above 80 degrees Fahrenheit) if possible, which may select for slightly less desirable microbes. The pickles will be softer and less tasty, but should still be effective.
NOTE 5:
Use organic or home-grown produce if possible. The process will not work with cucumbers that are waxed on the outside. The process will not work as well with cucumbers that are not fresh.
NOTE 6:
Live culture should be at least a little cloudy, bubbly, effervescent. Fermentation happens easily and naturally unless there is some agent or process that inhibits it. Always use glass jars; not metal, not plastic.
Can pickles go bad? If the juice turns pink or if there is a white scum on top, or if the brine smells bad, then you will need to pour out your pickle brine, wash the container and lid thoroughly in very hot soapy water, rinse thoroughly, dry completely, and start over. If there are pickles still in the brine, they should be discarded. Unless you have a particularly sensitive stomach or microbial allergies, the pickles might still be edible, if they are washed off and put into fresh brine with extra salt. The high concentration of salt in the brine prevents pathogens from growing in it. As the cucumbers sit in the brine, some of the water from inside the pickles filters out into the brine, reducing the salt ratio. A lower salt ratio can grow the wrong bacteria. Add more salt during the pickling process if this is what seems to be happening.
Here's the challenge:
Ingredients:
CLEAN glass jar(s) that will tightly hold all the cucumbers/kirbies you want to make into pickles
lid that can make a tight seal for each glass jar: usually metal with plastisol liner.
FOR EACH JAR YOU WILL NEED
Enough water to fill the jar (actually a little less because the other contents will displace).
Noniodized salt in the ratio of 2 teaspoons per each cup of water (sea salt is acceptable, as is kosher salt).
Kirbies or cucumbers, unwaxed (organic or homegrown are best), enough to fit tightly in the jar
Sprigs dill
1 clove garlic or more
Whole yellow mustard seeds
1 grape leaf or witchhazel leaf or two whole bay leaves for tannin (to keep the pickles firm).
Horseradish root, peeled and cut into spears - as needed to hold cucumbers in place
Any of the following optional ingredients:
sprigs of fennel
whole coriander seeds
whole allspice seeds
whole caraway seeds
whole dill seeds
whole fennel seeds
turmeric root - either 1 oz root peelings or 1/2 teaspoon powder;
Instructions:
Brine-Fermented pickles do not contain vinegar.
Making pickle starter is usually not necessary! However, if you are having difficultly making pickles, you can try making a little starter and adding some to your pickle jar.
Making Starter
Making starter from scratch is a process that will take at least 3 days when room temperature is about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. There are many ways to make pickle starter, but here is one easy way: Juice a fresh cabbage and extract at least a quarter cup of cabbage juice. Put the juice with non-hallogenated water in a clear jar. Add a little non-iodized salt. It can be half the magic ratio. Slice up some cabbage in shreds and put the cabbage in the jar with the cabbage juice, water and salt. Note there are only 3 ingredients: cabbage, water, salt. Fold one whole cabbage leaf on top, to keep the cabbage shreds submerged. Put the lid on the jar and let it sit on the counter for several days. After 3 days taste it. If the cabbage is starting to turn into sauerkraut, then the liquid can be used as pickle starter.
Making Pickles
Rinse the kirbies/cucumbers in tap water, brushing if necessary. Dry them. You dry the kirbies so that they don't introduce chlorine or fluoride into the pickle brine.
Scrape off the ends of the pickles, just enough to remove the stem or bud attachment because those pieces of the pickle have plant hormones that may make the pickles go soft faster.
Test the cucumber arrangement in each jar. The cucumbers should fit tightly.
Remove the cucumbers from the jar.
Fill the jar to the top with tap water or non-hallogenated water (to measure the right amount of water).
Pour the water into a pot for boiling, cover the pot, turn on heat. Boil.
Add all the spices and vegetable ingredients into the jar. Do NOT add the cucumbers, nor horseradish, nor salt, nor water yet.
Remove lid from pot, add as much salt as needed. Stir with a chopstick to help the salt completely dissolve.
Put the lid back on the pot and allow liquid to cool to room temperature.
Squeeze all the cucumbers into the jar with the spices.
Cut spears of horseradish and wedge them between the cucumbers to hold the cucumbers in place; especially, to keep them submerged after the water is added.
When the salt water has reached room temperature, pour it into the jar with the cucumbers, completely covering the cucumbers.
Put the lid on tightly.
Do NOT open the jar again unless you are either ready to eat the pickles or discard them (if something went wrong).
The brine fermentation process should cause a vaccuum in the jar and seal the lid tighter.
Leave jar in room temperature for 3 days. Observe the pickle color. The pickles may first turn a bright green, before settling into the more familiar gray-green pickle color. The water will get cloudy as the pickles ferment. There may also be a few bubbles.
Once the pickle color is what you expect of pickles, put the jar in the refrigerator to slow the fermentation process.
Do not open the pickle jar until you are ready to eat the pickles. Once the jar is opened, fermented pickles will last up to another 3 weeks in your refrigerator.
Serving Information:
Eat pickles as a side with protein-rich meals.
Notes:
NOTE 1:
Magic ratio is 2 teaspoons large-granulated salt (like Kosher salt) per 1 cup water.
NOTE 2:
There are many ways to obtain non-halogenated water. If your tap water contains fluoride or chlorine, letting it stand for a day should allow enough halogen to dissipate out so that the water is usable.
Distilled water or spring water should work. If the water quality is good, artesian well water is another good choice.
NOTE 3:
One way that pickles can go bad is if they are not completely immersed in the brine. As pickles ferment they may shrink a little and that makes it possible for them to float. To prevent that, use the horseradish wedges to hold the pickles in place.
NOTE 4:
A good room temperature for making pickles is between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Storing pickles in the refrigerator slows down the fermentation process. The more pickles ferment, the more sour they taste.
Avoid excessive heat (above 80 degrees Fahrenheit) if possible, which may select for slightly less desirable microbes. The pickles will be softer and less tasty, but should still be effective.
NOTE 5:
Use organic or home-grown produce if possible. The process will not work with cucumbers that are waxed on the outside. The process will not work as well with cucumbers that are not fresh.
NOTE 6:
Live culture should be at least a little cloudy, bubbly, effervescent. Fermentation happens easily and naturally unless there is some agent or process that inhibits it. Always use glass jars; not metal, not plastic.
Can pickles go bad? If the juice turns pink or if there is a white scum on top, or if the brine smells bad, then you will need to pour out your pickle brine, wash the container and lid thoroughly in very hot soapy water, rinse thoroughly, dry completely, and start over. If there are pickles still in the brine, they should be discarded. Unless you have a particularly sensitive stomach or microbial allergies, the pickles might still be edible, if they are washed off and put into fresh brine with extra salt. The high concentration of salt in the brine prevents pathogens from growing in it. As the cucumbers sit in the brine, some of the water from inside the pickles filters out into the brine, reducing the salt ratio. A lower salt ratio can grow the wrong bacteria. Add more salt during the pickling process if this is what seems to be happening.
Here's the challenge:
- Kirbies pickle best when they are fresh.
- Kirbies grow best and are harvested in the heat of summer.
- When the temperature gets above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the less desirable microbes flourish in the pickle brine.