Lacto Fermenation Dill pickles - with some zip!

Last year I made these pickles with an awesome recipe from the late Alice Andrusek (my great aunt).  Of course, I view most recipes as a guide with ample room for creativity and uniqueness.  I modified her recipe last year by adding raw carrots and fresh hot chili peppers.  This year I was unable to purchase any chili pepper plants.  So I bought dried whole chili peppers.

These Pickles are made by the process of Lacto Fermentation

Recipe for 1 Quart sealer

Put a fresh Dill seed head and one clove fresh pealed Garlic in bottom of a

clean 1 Quart sealer

Add 1 tsp of pickling spice if desired

and half a tsp crushed up red chili pepper seeds and all if desired. 

  cut 1/4" inch off both ends before putting Cucumbers in sealers.
Pack Cucumbers in sealer and put more Dill and 1 clove Garlic on top
(Note:  Cucumbers may be cut if necessary to fit into sealer)

Add to sealer:

            1 tablespoon pickling salt

            1 tablespoon granulated sugar

            1 tablespoon white vinegar

Fill sealer completely with cold water, and tighten lid, being careful that rim of sealer is clean. 

Turn over and shake until salt and sugar have dissolved.
Put sealers in a room temperature location such as the kitchen counter, out of direct sun.  Place the sealers on a tray or a towel in case they leak.  It’s normal for the brine to turn cloudy during the fermentation process.

Pickles will be ready to eat (mild stage) in about 4-5 days. 

Open sealers carefully in the sink, or in a large bowl.   The brine becomes very fizzy (almost like it’s carbonated) because of the fermentation process, and may ‘gush’ out of the sealer when it’s opened.  If there is no fizz at all and/or the brine has not turned cloudy, suspect something may have not worked quite right…but the pickles may still be just fine.
  Refrigerate after opening.
 
Unopened sealers can be stored in a cool, dark place for several months, and pickles get even better if allowed to get stronger.

In Brandon we are enjoying a bumper of crop of cucumbers.

My laundry tub with this morning's picking from my friend Cindy's beautiful garden and the four plants in my garden.  The white handle with black cord is my vegetable scrubbing brush.

New-to-me three gallon crock purchased in Winnipeg for $25 and freshly washed 4 litre jars given to me by the Salvation Army Dinsdale Personal Care Home.

 

Today I made another four and a half gallons or 17 litres of dill pickles.  Holy smokes!  I sure hope that I'm finished making dill pickles this year.  In my defense, I have given away and/or eaten 16 litres or 4 gallons of them.

These were made in a two gallon crock on Sunday August 25th.  The sealer of water is weighting down a pottery plate to ensure the liquid completely covers the cucumbers.  They are ready to eat.

 Don't they look yummy?

I sliced this one up for my lunch.  It is partially pickled and reminds me of the kosher pickles available in grocery stores.

These three gallon/four litre jars were made on Tuesday August 27th.

I plan to make sauerkraut this fall as well as beet pickles and beet/horse radish relish.

Happy Labour Day weekend all.