Lacto-Fermented Dill Pickles
Crisp, tangy dill pickles made the traditional way — fermented with a whey starter, no canning or vinegar required. Store in the refrigerator after fermenting.
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Ingredients
- - Pickling cucumbers enough to pack your jar
- - 1 large garlic clove per quart jar - optional
- - 1 tablespoon mustard seed per quart jar
- - 1-2 tablespoons dill 2 tablespoons if using fresh dill; 1 tablespoon if using dried dill seed
Brine
- - 1 T Salt — use canning salt or sea salt only not table salt (table salt has anti-caking additives that will cloud the brine)
- - 4 tablespoons whey see notes for how to make this
- - 1 cup water
Instructions
- Wash cucumbers and cut off the blossom end of each one. (This end contains enzymes that can make pickles go soft, so trimming it helps keep them crisp.)
- Pack the jar tightly with the cucumbers. Whole is fine — cut oversized cucumbers in half to fit.
- Add the garlic, mustard seed, and dill seed to the jar.
- Add the salt.
- Make the brine: mix 4 tablespoons of whey with 1 cup of water. Make more as needed to fully cover the cucumbers.
- Pour the brine over the cucumbers, making sure they are fully submerged and the jar is topped off.
- Cap the jar and leave it on the counter for 3 days to ferment.
- Move the jar to the refrigerator for storage.
Notes
How to make whey: Place plain yogurt in a cheesecloth bag and let it hang and drip over a bowl. The liquid that drips out is your whey. What's left in the bag turns into a thick, cream-cheese-like product — don't throw that out. Whey can also be made from kefir.
If you don't have whey , you can still make this recipe. Just add 1 extra Tablespoon of salt. (so 2 T total)
Storage: Keep refrigerated at around 40°F. A little temperature variation is fine — a standard refrigerator works well. Best quality within 3-6 months; after that they'll gradually soften and turn more sour, but this is a quality change, not a safety issue.
This is a fermented recipe, not a canning recipe. Do not store at room temperature after the initial 3-day ferment.
Adapted from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Falon.
Servings: 1 quart jars