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Lacto-Fermented Pickles
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Lacto-Fermented Pickles

These classic lacto-fermented pickles are super easy, crunchy, flavourful and packed with probiotics! They are excellent for your health!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Course: Side Dish, Snack
Keyword: dill, fermentation, pickles
Servings: 1 16 oz jar

Ingredients

  • small cucumbers fit as many as you can in a jar to make sure they sit tight to each other
  • 4 garlic cloves lightly smashed
  • 2 dill stalks with “umbrellas”
  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 2 bay leaves
  • few slices of horseradish root peeled
  • few black currant, sour cherry or grape leaves
  • 5 peppercorns

Brine

  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1 L boiling water

Instructions

  • Wash cucumbers, dill stalks and leaves in cold water. Then cover with water and set aside.
  • Boil water for the brine. You will need as much water to completely cover the cucumbers.
  • Sterilize the jar and its lid by washing them in the dishwasher.
  • To the bottom of sterilized jar add dill, peppercorns, bay leaves and half of garlic, mustard and fennel seeds.
  • Trim off both ends of cucumbers (this will help them stay more crunchy) and fit tightly as many as you can into the jar leaving about an inch of space at the top.
  • Fit horseradish slices and the remaining garlic between cucumbers.
  • Put one more dill umbrella on the top and sprinkle the cucumbers with the remaining fennel and mustard seeds.

Brine

  • Dissolve salt in hot water and pour it into the jar. The cucumbers must be submerged fully in water and tightly placed so they don’t float above the water level.
  • Layer the leaves on top and cover the jar with cheesecloth, Let it sit at room temperature anywhere from 24 hours to 5 days days. After a couple of days you’ll see the colour changing and the brine will turn a little cloudy. This is all good!
  • Fermentation process takes anywhere from 24 hours to 5 days. The longer pickles ferment the healthier they become. I recommend starting with 24 hours – do a taste check, let them sit for another few days and check again. After 5 days I transfer pickles to the fridge.
  • Lacto-fermented pickles can last for 1-2 weeks in the fridge (maybe longer, but we’ve always finished them before that).

Notes

For larger batch of pickles it is helpful to use pickling crock. Same rule for brine applies (1 heaping tbsp of salt per 1 litre of water).