It's the most wonderful time of the year - that is if you love gardening and preserving those wonderful goodies to enjoy all year round not just in the summer time. I thought I would show you my first harvest of cucumbers from our garden and how I preserved them for later enjoyment. Lacto- fermentation of cucumbers is far superior to the extremely heated canned pickles due to the fact that the process of lacto fermentation does not use heat and the cucumbers remain a live food loaded with beneficial enzymes preserved in a probiotic solution. Now on to explaining the process.
It's best not to use very large over grown cucumbers as these cucumbers tend to lose their crispness easier than smaller cucumbers. You will see that I have these cucumbers soaking in filtered water with ice cubes. If your cucumbers are not straight from the garden, they can become a little limp so to freshen them up just wash them and soak them in filtered cold water for about two hours. If part of the vine end is still attached just cut it off a little more so that the water will be better absorbed by the cucumber.
It's best not to use very large over grown cucumbers as these cucumbers tend to lose their crispness easier than smaller cucumbers. You will see that I have these cucumbers soaking in filtered water with ice cubes. If your cucumbers are not straight from the garden, they can become a little limp so to freshen them up just wash them and soak them in filtered cold water for about two hours. If part of the vine end is still attached just cut it off a little more so that the water will be better absorbed by the cucumber.
While your cucumbers are soaking you will want to have already done this next step or at least be in the process. In this step you will need some very good quality yogurt, buttermilk, or milk kefir. What you are after actually is the whey from these products. I make my own kefir using unpasteurized milk and this is what I use but you can make your kefir, yogurt or buttermilk using a good quality pasteurized milk if you prefer. Just be careful that the milk is not heated after the culturing process. If you do not make your own then you can buy some yogurt in the health food stores. A great brand available in my location is Erivan Yogurt. Whatever yogurt you buy needs to claim on the container that it contains live or viable cultures otherwise this process will not work. If you want to skip this step then maybe you have a farmer who sells the whey and you won't have to separate it yourself from the milk. Just be sure that the whey you use has not been heated. Whey from cheesemaking will not work as it may have been heated. Neither will powdered whey work.
In the picture you see that I have a bag called a yogurt cheese bag that has a drawstring and I have it clothespinned to the handle on my cabinet. You can use fine weave cheesecloth instead of the bag if you prefer. In the bag I have placed my milk kefir (yogurt or buttermilk) and you can see that I have actually captured a drip at the bottom of the bag going into the bucket (no metal bucket -use glass or safe plastic). This drip is whey that is separating out from the milk solids. You can let it drip for a short time for a little thicker kefir or you can let it drip overnight when all the whey will be removed and you will have a kefir that is the consistency of cream cheese. However it doesn't take long at all to get enough whey for your cucumber ferment and you can just scoop some out when you are ready to use it in the process. By the way the squash and pepper have nothing to do with this. I just placed them for eye appeal and had just gathered them from the garden. See other ways to extract whey.
If you want to skip using whey altogether for your cucumber ferment then see my instructions below for using salt only.
In the picture you see that I have a bag called a yogurt cheese bag that has a drawstring and I have it clothespinned to the handle on my cabinet. You can use fine weave cheesecloth instead of the bag if you prefer. In the bag I have placed my milk kefir (yogurt or buttermilk) and you can see that I have actually captured a drip at the bottom of the bag going into the bucket (no metal bucket -use glass or safe plastic). This drip is whey that is separating out from the milk solids. You can let it drip for a short time for a little thicker kefir or you can let it drip overnight when all the whey will be removed and you will have a kefir that is the consistency of cream cheese. However it doesn't take long at all to get enough whey for your cucumber ferment and you can just scoop some out when you are ready to use it in the process. By the way the squash and pepper have nothing to do with this. I just placed them for eye appeal and had just gathered them from the garden. See other ways to extract whey.
If you want to skip using whey altogether for your cucumber ferment then see my instructions below for using salt only.
Remove your cucumbers from soak and place on towel to drain. To insure that your pickles stay crunchy until you eat them you can do two things. First, cut off a small portion of the blossom end of the cucumber. The blossom end contains an enzyme that prohibits crispiness. And the second thing you can do is add something that contains tannin to the ferment. A washed grape leaf, oak leaf or black tea (1/4 tsp. black tea leaves). Get a canning jar (wide mouth) no matter the size (but the ingredients are for a quart) and place in the bottom of the jar the following organic ingredients:
1 grape leaf, oak leaf or 1/4 tsp. black tea leaves
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
2 tablespoons fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill and 1 teaspoon dill seeds
2 cloves garlic (may omit)
dash of red pepper flakes (may omit)
1/4 cup whey
1 grape leaf, oak leaf or 1/4 tsp. black tea leaves
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
2 tablespoons fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill and 1 teaspoon dill seeds
2 cloves garlic (may omit)
dash of red pepper flakes (may omit)
1/4 cup whey
Pack the jar with either sliced, speared or whole cucumbers (whatever you prefer or whatever you can get to fit in the jar). Mix 1 cup filtered water (non chlorinated) with 1 tablespoon good quality sea salt (if you do not use whey then increase salt to 2 tablespoons). I prefer Celtic sea salt. You do not want to use iodized or bleached salt. Pour the salt water over the cucumbers in the jar and cover completely adding more water if necessary but leave one inch space at the top. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about three days out of direct sunlight making sure to burp the jar occasionally to relieve the gas that will form. You can also use an airlock fermentation lid if you prefer and then you won't have to burp the jar. See my resources at the bottom of this post.
After three days remove the airlock lid and place a regular lid on the jar and store in the refrigerator. Taste improves with time and the pickles should last six months.
You can see in my picture that I have one half gallon jar of whole and speared cucumbers and one pint of sliced cucumbers.
How do you know if your ferment went bad and did not ferment correctly? No amount of money could get you to eat one if that happens so your nose will know. A big reason for a bad ferment is using non viable whey and chlorinated water.
Now it's your turn. Give it a try and enjoy!
Interesting facts: These pickles go well with meats since they are able to dissolve precipitates of uric acid and thus prevents the formation of stones, often caused by meats and sausages, foods rich in uric acid. Claude Aubert Les Aliments Fermentes Traditionnels
A 1999 study published in the Lancet found that consumption of lacto-fermented vegetables was positively associated with low rates of asthma, skin problems and autoimmune disorders in Swedish children attending a Waldorf school. The same study found that use of raw milk and avoidance of vaccinations added to the protective effects. SWF (from page 97 of Nourishing Traditions)
After three days remove the airlock lid and place a regular lid on the jar and store in the refrigerator. Taste improves with time and the pickles should last six months.
You can see in my picture that I have one half gallon jar of whole and speared cucumbers and one pint of sliced cucumbers.
How do you know if your ferment went bad and did not ferment correctly? No amount of money could get you to eat one if that happens so your nose will know. A big reason for a bad ferment is using non viable whey and chlorinated water.
Now it's your turn. Give it a try and enjoy!
Interesting facts: These pickles go well with meats since they are able to dissolve precipitates of uric acid and thus prevents the formation of stones, often caused by meats and sausages, foods rich in uric acid. Claude Aubert Les Aliments Fermentes Traditionnels
A 1999 study published in the Lancet found that consumption of lacto-fermented vegetables was positively associated with low rates of asthma, skin problems and autoimmune disorders in Swedish children attending a Waldorf school. The same study found that use of raw milk and avoidance of vaccinations added to the protective effects. SWF (from page 97 of Nourishing Traditions)
