Our summer garden will soon be abundantly producing cucumbers! My husband loves them raw, but I prefer my cucumbers as pickles! Learn how to make lacto-fermented pickles that are simple to make and pack a probiotic boost into your diet!
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A few summers back, my husband gave me a recipe for his great grandmother’s homemade sweet pickles and asked if I could learn to make them. His aunt had actually just made a batch and boy were they delicious! I thought one day I’d try my hand at pickle making.
However, that recipe had lots of steps and was completed over multiple days in a 5 gallon crock! I always had good intentions, but never got around to making that pickle recipe!
There’s still time, though! One day I will have time to make pickles in crock, but that day is not today!
For now, I am sticking to this super simple, lacto-fermented method that our family absolutely loves! They also are teeming with probiotic strains which I love even more!
What is lacto-FERMENtation?
When veggies come from the ground, they are coated with soil microbiomes, which are good soil bacteria.
When you ferment a vegetable, it is submerged under a saltwater brine. This brine cuts off the oxygen to the vegetable, keeping any mold or bad bacteria from growing.. This allows the good bacteria to multiply and spread throughout the ferment.
I prefer to make probiotic rich foods at home, verses buying probiotic liquid or pills replicated in a lab! It’s much easier for our bodies to absorb and also MUCH cheaper!
HOW LONG DO lacto-FERMENTED pickles LAST?
In the fridge, they should last around 6 months, if they make it that long!
Jumpstarting the fermentation process
If you happen to have a previous jar of fermented pickles left in your fridge, pull those out and steal a little bit of the brine! Adding a little bit of this already probiotic-rich brine acts as a “starter” to get the pickles fermenting! This is completely optional, but a good trick to apply!
TOOLS NEEDED TO MAKE lacto-fermented pickles
- Cutting board & Knife
- Wide mouth mason jars
- Glass Fermenting Weights OR a couple of rocks inside a ziplock bag
INGREDIENTS
- 4-5 Sliced cucumbers, approx 1 lb
- 2.5 TBSP sea salt (any type of salt will work EXCEPT iodized salt)
watch the tutorial
HOW TO MAKE lacto-fermented pickles
STEP ONE: PREPARE THE BRINE
- Start a small pot of water to boil and add the salt.
- Let the salt dissolve in the water as you begin Step 2.
STEP TWO: CHOP THE CUCUMBERS
- Carefully chop the cucumbers into slices. You can quarter them or slice into rounds.
- Add the chopped cucumbers to a clean, wide-mouth mason jar.
STEP THREE: COOL THE BRINE
- To ensure that you do not kill the good bacteria that is already present on the cucumbers, let the salt water brine cool for a few minutes.
- Pour the cooled brine over the chopped cucumbers.
STEP FOUR: ADD WEIGHTS
- The cucumbers need to stay under the brine to ferment.
- Adding fermentation weights will keep them from floating to the top during the fermentation process.
- If you do not have fermenting weights, add a couple of rocks to a clean ziplock bag and use that as a weight.
STEP FIVE: LET THE FERMENTATION PROCESS BEGIN
- Allow the cucumbers to ferment on the counter for 3-5 days, depending on your taste preference.
- If cucumbers ferment for too long, they will become soggy. We ferment cucumbers for about 4 days at our home.
- Store in refrigerator for up to 6 months.
CHECK OUT THESE POSTS FOR MORE FERMENTED FOODS from our homestead
How to Make Fermented Jalapenos
PRINT THE RECIPE
Lacto-Fermented Pickles
Equipment
- Mason Jar
- fermenting weights
Ingredients
- 1 lb cucumbers , chopped
- 2.5 TBSP sea salt
Instructions
- Start a small pot of water to boil and add the salt.
- Chop the cucumbers into slices and add them to a clean mason jar.
- Pour the cooled brine over the chopped cucumbers.
- Add fermenting weights to keep the cucumbers below the brine during the fermentation process. If you do not have fermenting weights, add a couple of rocks to a clean ziplock bag and use that as a weight.
- Loosely place a lid,fermenting weight, or tea towel over the mason jar. Allow the cucumbers to ferment on the counter for 3-5 days.
- Store in refrigerator for up to 6 months.
Notes
PIN FOR LATER
