I absolutely love fermented cucumber pickles, they were probably what originally got me into fermenting to begin with. I’ve been a pickle lover ever since I was a kid, and love all varieties, including the canned vinegar kind and refrigerator pickles. My mom makes awesome sweet bread and butter pickles, and her dill pickles are to die for, but there is something to be said for traditional fermented cucumber pickles. They have that authentic deli taste that I crave, and they are super easy to make!
Cucumbers for Fermenting
I suppose what prompted this post is that my local natural food co-op had these amazing looking pickling cucumbers in.
I’m growing my own, but they won’t be ready for a good while, so I figured I’d get ahead of the game and make some fermented cucumber pickles now while I had the opportunity!
Pickling cucumbers work best in this recipe, as they are less seedy and watery than regular slicing cucumbers. They are also the best choice for making kosher dill pickles, which are canned and not fermented.
I’ve also used the small Persian cucumbers (they usually have them at Trader Joe’s) with success.
How to Make Fermented Cucumber Pickles
This recipe will make about 1 quart of pickles. The number of cucumbers to use will vary greatly depending on their size. As you can see, the recipe is very customizable, so make your pickles how you like them!
Put your cucumbers into a quart sized jar and add the salt and whatever spices and extras you like. As you can see, I did two jars, one with a fresh dill head from my garden, and one with a spicy dried pepper.
Fill the jar with filtered water, leaving a bit of head space. Cover with a lid and shake until all of the salt has dissolved.
Use a weight of some sort to keep your cucumbers under the brine. If you have a fermentation weight and airlock kit, that’s great, but isn’t totally necessary.
I will often use a super clean smaller jar filled with water as a weight, covered with a kitchen towel to keep the bugs out.
Put your jar (or jars, if you’re like me and can’t make just one) in a cool and dark place.
If you’re using the smaller jar weight method, put them on a plate as there may be a bit of brine leakage as the cucumbers extract some of their liquid.
Check the jars every few days to see how they’re doing. It’s been pretty warm around here, so these were done to my liking in about a week.
They will be paler green in color and a bit softer, but not mushy.
Give one a taste if you’re unsure, and once they are how you like them, then they are done!
Then you can revel in pickle-y goodness!
These are so tasty, they don’t last very long at my house. You gotta get ’em while they’re hot!
More Fermented Vegetable Recipes
Here are some of my other favorite fermented vegetable recipes:
- How to Make Sauerkraut
- How to Make Kimchi
- How to Make Fermented Hot Sauce
- Fermented Jalapeno Hot Sauce
- Fermented Green Tomatoes
- Fermented Cherry Tomatoes
- Fermented Asparagus with Garlic
- Lacto-Fermented Dilly Beans
Have you ever made traditionally fermented cucumber pickles? What’s your favorite flavor?
Fermented Cucumber Pickles
Ingredients
- 3-6 pickling cucumbers
- 1.5 Tbsp kosher, pickling, or sea salt do not use iodized salt
- various spices to taste peppercorns, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, dill seeds, red pepper flake
- various extras whole fresh dill heads, dried hot peppers, garlic cloves
- filtered water
Instructions
- Cut the cucumbers into spears (or halves if they are on the small size). Place the cucumbers into a quart sized jar and add the salt. Now add spices and extras to taste.
- Fill the jar with filtered water, leaving an inch of head space. Cover with a lid and shake until all of the salt has dissolved.
- Place a fermentation weight over the vegetables to keep them under the brine. Cover the jar with a cloth secured with a rubberband.
- Place the jar in a cool dark place. Check them every few days to see how they’re progressing. They'll be finished when they're paler green in color and a bit softer, but not mushy. Give them a taste to be sure they're to your preference. If not, ferment a bit longer. If they are, dive in!
Notes
- Total Cook Time does not reflect fermentation time of several days to a week.
I just made 4 pints of kosher dill pickles. When can I sample one? Thank you.
Give them a taste once they’re paler green in color and a bit softer, but not mushy. Enjoy!
Can these be canned after finished? Or do they all have to go in the fridge
Hi Kim. Since they’re fermented, they shouldn’t be canned so refrigerated for several months is the way to go. Subjecting fermented foods to high heat will kill all the good bacteria that you’ve cultivated in your pickles.
Hi, Colleen, I have a couple of questions. I’ve tried this and similar recipes before but as a couple of the comments mention, I end up with a white mold in the jar. On the sides or on top of the liquid.
I’ve read that it’s not a problem, you can just scoop it off and everything under the liquid is fine. But I’m a little afraid to try.
Am I correct that the mold is fine as long as you scoop it out of the jar?
Hi, Karen. It’s actually not a mold at all, but an aerobic yeast that is formed when there’s no sugar left for the good bacteria to consume causing the pH to drop and lactic acid to form. Skimming it off the top is totally safe and won’t cause you any harm.
I have never fermented before. Will be making this recipe- thanks
You’re welcome, Pauline. Enjoy!
Regular salt and kosher salt are not equal. Kosher is 1/2 as salty. You don’t mention grape leaves or anything with tannins to make them crunch. This does not to justice to someone seriously trying
to make dill pickles.
Using grape leaves is supposed to help keep rhe crunch. It adds a nice flavor.
The tannins in grape leaves keep the pickles crunchy. Use a few bay leaves if you don’t have grape leaves handy.
Just be sure if you buy pickles that they
Don’t have a waxy coating.
Thank you for your detailed recipe! Seeing this done outside and out in the sunlight is a fresh take on a recipe like this one. Usually most pictures are inside, dark, gloomy. Your pictures are colorful, bright, and attractive! I’ll have to give your recipe a try and see if I can pull off the same look and final product you have. I’ve been doing a ton of research on pickling and fermenting to try and make my own products so I don’t have to purchase them from the store any longer. Plus, I will know exactly what is going into my products! Wish me luck!
Please, please, please use ORGANIC cucumbers! Cucumbers are on the list for being one of the most highly pesticided and chemically fertilized crops there is.
After some reading, the white stuff may be a type of yeast not mold.
I tried this, but there was some fuzzy stuff growing around the edge of the jar, not on the pickles or in the water. I had a smaller jar inside the larger jar to weigh things down and where the 2 jars met is where the mold was growing. I guess something went wrong. I only left them 4 days. They smell good, but I are they safe to eat?
I learned fermenting with sauerkraut and worked my way up to pickles. Love them all. But I usually make pickles, green beans, okra, etc… right after a batch of kraut so I can use a little starter brine. I lost a few batches to spoilage, even in a fermenting crock with weights and water-lock lid. Have had much better luck with organic veggies but still an occasional problem without a starter.
Has this ever been a problem for you? I get about 75% success on non-cabbage organic veggies but 100% success with a starter.
This is so yummie!
I’ve been thinking of making fermented pickles. This recipe looks great!
You made this sound so easy ! I haven’t tried fermenting yet cause the instructions are so complicated. I can’t wait to try it now thanks to you. One question, sterilized jars or not ? This is gonna be fun !