Cucumbers, naturally fermented in a flavorful brine
Recipe by Polish Housewife on July 15, 2017
Rating
4.7 stars ( reviews)
Ingredients
wide mouth 1 quart jar
8 to 10 pickling cucumbers (4-6 inches long), washed and dried
2 tablespoons pickling salt or sea salt
1 quart water
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
2 cloves peeled garlic
1 stem dill, preferably flowering
fresh horseradish root, about 1 inch long
bay leaf
Cherry, grape, blackcurrant, or oak leaf
Cuisine
Polish
Steps
Tightly pack the cucumbers into the sterile jar, you want to squeeze them in, so they’ll stay submerged and not float to the top of the liquid
Add the salt to the water and bring to a boil, cool
Add the mustard seeds, garlic, dill (fold to fit), horseradish, bay leaf, and other leaf if you have one
Fill the jar with the salt water to within 1/4 from the top, all of your ingredients should be covered
Loosely cap the jar with a sterile lid, the lid must be loose to allow the gases produced during fermentation to escape, some brine may seep out, so store where this won’t be a problem
As it ferments, the brine will become cloudy
Depending on your taste, the cucumbers will be ready to eat in 1 to 3 weeks
Fermentation will end after 5-6 weeks, if you have any left at this point, the lids should be tightened to prevent spoilage
Reviews
Carol Fulgenzi on 2017-07-15 (4 stars): On your Polish pickle recipe, do you boil the pickles in a water bath? It seems I remember my grandma doing pickles but doing a water bath and that kept them from spoiling. Thanks for the info!
Sauerkraut Billy on 2017-08-10 (5 stars): Thanks so much for the recipe Lois! Super excited to try these polish pickles and make them at home. Next time I head out to the market i'll definitely have to grab up the ingredients to make this! I'll report back with how everything goes. I've never added horseradish to a pickling before! Thanks again!
Nancy F Hill on 2017-08-27 (5 stars): Chemistry in cooking! This is essential information to a good cook. Thank you for talking process!
