These pickles are amazing! Real Jewish deli pickles and all the fermented goodness that is amazing for your gut health and immune system! I have scaled down the recipe I found in Real Food Fermentation cookbook.
Ingredients
- 1-2 lbs of cucumbers and peppers or okra
- 1000 ml filtered water (about 4 cups)
- 15g (1 tbsp) sea salt per 500ml water
- 1/4 cup whey (drained from plain whole milk yogurt) or 1 capsule of starter – I use Life 9 from Young Living – per 500ml water
- 6-10 black peppercorns
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 whole garlic cloves
Directions
Make the brine. Mix salt, water, and whey or Life 9 starter in a bowl.
Put seasonings (peppercorns, red pepper, bay leaves and garlic) in the bottom of a quart sized glass mason jar. I like these mason jar silicon toppers and glass weights for fermenting along with these plastic screw tops.
Add in sliced cucumbers and peppers or whole okra and really pack them in. Pour brine in until it is over the top of the vegetables. Insert the glass weight to push the vegetables down below the brine.
Close the lid and let it sit in your pantry at room temperature for 2 days. After 2 days – open and taste the pickles – if they taste sour and salty like a Jewish deli pickle then they are done! If they still taste like a cucumber then they aren’t quite ready yet. Let them sit another 12 hours or so and try them again! If they are mushy then try again! I find keeping them whole helps but have also had success cutting them into spears. Slices seem to get mushy.
Thank you very much for that great article
Adding a grape leaf, an oak leaf, or a little horseradish root can help keep pickles firm. I’m going to try this recipe – haven’t made lactofermented pickles that include vinegar before!
oh yea! Horseradish and grape leaf for sure, my grandma recipe! I forgot abt it.
to use yogurt or whey products & cannot do I am allergic
to them,what do you suggest instead?
I’m interested in canning pickles. I’ve made these before and absolutely LOVED them! I’m wondering if I left out the whey, could I can them? Let me know what you think, or if you have a better recipe for canning pickles. Thanks!
Abigail
Won’t the vinegar kill the bacteria you are trying to grow?
Have you tried this without vinegar?
As far as I know this hasn’t killed the bacteria. It is a very small amount to give this recipe some tang. You can omit the vinegar if you want. I like it better with.
What kind of peppers did you use? Does it matter? Thanks
How/where do you get the whey? I know it says from plain whole milk yogurt, but I’ve never been able to find that in my area.
Looks very good, but what kind of peppers do you use? Thanks
Made these and loved them!!. Might use a little less red pepper flakes if making for younger children. My husband however loves the bit of heat from the pepper flakes and is sitting here munching away.