Ingredients:

1 gallon unfazed pickling cucumbers

2 big bunches dill (preferably flowering heads)

2 large bulbs of garlic

3-4 tbsps. pickling spice (allspice, mustard seeds, cloves, bay leaf, black pepper etc.)

5-6 tbsp. unrefined sea salt

1 horseradish leaf (stem removed)

Directions:

1. The first step in making sour pickles is to thoroughly soak the pickling cucumbers in chilly water. This is a very necessary step unless you picked your cucumbers that day as it helps to perk them up a bit before the fermenting begins.

2. Next, you’ll want to makes sure all stems and flowery ends have been removed as either may contribute an off-flavor to the sour pickles. Make sure your pickling cucumbers are thoroughly scrubbed and clean.

3. Peel each bulb of garlic and use only the best and freshest cloves of garlic to season the sour pickles.

4. Add the pickling cucumbers and garlic, dill and pickling spice to the jar or vegetable fermenter in layers.

5. Add the horseradish leave to the jar as well. Indeed, it can be left more or lose whole. The leaf not only yields a subtle additional flavor to sour pickles, but it also helps them to remain crisp, not mushy, when the lactic acid fermentation is complete.

6. Prepare a brine of 2 ½ – 3 tablespoons of unrefined sea salt to 1 quart filtered, chlorine-free water and shake it to ensure the salt is fully dissolved. Pour the brine over the pickling cucumbers, spices, garlic, dill and horseradish until all of the ingredients are submerged in salt water. It usually takes about 2 quarts of salt water to sufficiently cover the vegetables and spices.

7. Make sure that the vegetables are completely submerged beneath the salt water which is easy if you’re using a vegetable fermenter. If you’re using mason jars, simply place a smaller, plastic lid or other clean wait in the jar on top of the vegetables until it weights them down sufficiently.

8. Allow your ingredients to ferment for at least a five days and more likely seven days and quite possibly ten days. Fermentation is an inexact art. Taste them to see if they’ve soured to your liking. Once they’re done, simply place them in the fridge and use wisely and judiciously.

Bon Appetit!