FarmSteady: Lacto-Fermented "Classic Dill" Pickles

As I've mentioned before, the "Kraut Kit" from www.FarmSteady.com is quite versatile, and can be used to ferment many different vegetables, sauces, and other types of foods. Last Friday evening, 24 August, I started a batch of "Classic Dill Pickles," using FarmSteady's Recipe for them:

https://farmsteady.com/field-guide/recipe-classic-dill-pickles

I'll simply post the link for now, but I did take a few photos and will try to do a more detailed write-up with the recipe etc. when I am able to; it's all pretty much as described in the link above, but I was, happily, able to use locally grown cucumbers from a nearby Hutterite colony, as well as dill from my parents' place, just a few miles south of town.

For now, the pickles are looking pretty good - we'll see how they turn out! I plan to give them the full 5 to 7 days fermenting at room temperature; then, I'll put them in the refrigerator for a few days before sampling any.

As is usually the case with these types of projects, these pickles were very, very easy to make and reinforce my personal opinion that there's no reason not to at least try them, if you have any interest at all.

Before starting, I made a quart of brine by dissolving 2 tablespoons of kosher salt into a quart of room-temperature spring water; I then scrubbed my cucumbers in cold water:



I do not know whether or not these are actually Kirby Cucumbers, but they were very good. I get them from a local Hutterite colony from time to time and have never been disappointed in them, whether fresh or pickled with a salt-vinegar brine, so I figured they should work very well here. The instructions state to use 10 to 12 cucumbers; but due to their size, I was able to fit 15 or 16 in the fermenting jar.

In order to help the finished pickles stay crisp, it is necessary to cut the blossom ends from them; because I am no fan of stems on my pickles, I removed both ends:



I then plunged the cucumbers into an ice bath for 20 minutes, in order to further promote a crispy end product:



While the cucumbers were taking their frigid swim, I peeled and crushed 8 garlic cloves:



The instructions say to add 8 to 12 cloves of garlic, which generally amounts to an entire head of it; in this case, all that I had left were four very small, very thin inner cloves that I chose not to use.

When the time came, I began packing the cucumbers into the fermentation jar, beginning with a teabag, some crushed garlic and some fresh dill that I had gathered out at my parents' place just moments before:



I gathered somewhat more dill than I figured I would need, as when I tried a similar project earlier this year using sliced cucumber "chips," the dill seemed rather subtle.

The purpose of the teabag is to provide tannins that are said to help the pickles stay crisp; often, this will be supplied by oak or other leaves containing tannin, but we have none of that here, so this seemed like a sensible option. The instructions specifically state to use a bag of black tea, which comes with the Pickle Kit if you buy it; however, I provided my own, courtesy of Sir Thomas Lipton. I have never tried this or anything similar before, so we shall see if it works, and to what extent.

After a few layers of cucumbers, dill and garlic, I ran out of all three, so I placed the fermentation weight on top and added brine sufficient to completely submerge everything:



Since lacto-fermentation takes place in an anaerobic (oxygen-free) environment, it is crucial to make sure that everything in the jar is weighted down and completely covered with brine; otherwise, you get mold and the potential for pathogens, illness etc.

Approaching the proverbial finish line, I screwed the lid on the fermentation jar and fitted the air lock:



I then placed the jar on the top shelf of our closet, where it will remain until a full week has passed; at that time, I'll take a look at what we've got, and hopefully have some good things to report back. I plan to make sure that I test one now and then, in order to see how they mature, until I reach a "peak" point.

As you can see, it doesn't get much easier than this, so if you've been thinking about stepping into some fermentation projects, this is a great one to begin with. I chose to stick to the recipe, but there is no need to feel bound to it; experiment with different ideas, herbs, spices and profiles, if you want to, and find something that you like...but if you want to keep it "traditional" and "classic," this looks to be the way to go. I considered adding a few small, crushed, dried chilis, but ultimately decided not to, preferring to try this method and recipe "as written," at least the first time.

More as it happens, etc. &c....

Ron

Well, here we are, 4 weeks after beginning this project, and 2 weeks after my first sampling of the pickles. Last night, I tried another one, and was pretty impressed with the results.

The pickle was quite crisp and crunchy, in my opinion. I detected no more softness or "mushiness" than I would in any other pickle, and much less than it some. Cutting the pickle in half, I could see that it is fully "cured" in the sense that there were no mottled light spots, and it had all appearances of any other pickle I have seen:



As far as the taste goes, it was very close to perfect, in my opinion. The dill and garlic balanced very nicely, and the salt seemed to be right where it needed to be. The garlic was just right, I think, but the seeds in the dill were just a bit over-powering, to my own personal taste; they almost had a caraway flavor to them, so my own biases against caraway might be coming into play, here.

As for the fermentation "tang" (I can't think of any other way to describe it), it was well-represented and fit in with the flavor profile nicely. This is of course a different "sour" compared to pickles that have been brined in a salt/vinegar solution, so one who isn't accustomed to it might find it odd; however, it's a nice, fresh, clean flavor that can really grow on a person. My youngest son found it "weird," but The Beautiful Mrs. Tas was really enjoying it.

The next time I make these, I'll shake some of the seeds out of the dill or use a type of dill that isn't full of seeds; otherwise, this is an absolutely great way to make pickles with fresh, quality ingredients and always have them on hand. They are great on their own, but I can really imagine them in a potato salad, or chopped up in a sandwich spread...or sliced and served on a hamburger. The possibilities are many; one could even mince them and add them to a meat sauce or gravy.

I hope that these notes and observations are useful to anyone who might wish to give this a try - these pickles are very highly recommended!

Ron