Fermenting Pickles

I'm excited for these, my first fermentation exploration.  The large cucumbers I recently acquired were cut into spears and wedged into quart jars.  I love pickling spices and it felt good to put together a jar of it again.  And as fortune would have it, some of my dill flowered just in time for putting in some jars.  I learned the method of putting only flowered dill into pickle jars and have never veered from that tradition, but many people only put in dill sprigs without flowering heads.  Plop in a few bay leaves and garlic cloves, pour on some brine, and all is ready to sit for two weeks to a month in the fridge {my jars are hanging out on the bench that's sitting on the deck waiting to be moved to my parents' place in the picture above while I clean out my fridge and make room for them}.

Today I picked my first delicious cucumber from the cabin garden with more on there way so a few of these will be fermented as well.  

With any recipe I'm sure there will be some analyzing and perfecting, but here's to a fermentation start.

Fermented Pickles

*for each jar

1 1/3 c. salt brine

1 tbs. pickling spices

2 garlic cloves

2 bay leaves

fresh dill

enough cucumbers to pack a jar

water to fill jars within 1 inch from the top after filling with brine

Pack cucumbers into jars.  Top with pickling spices, garlic cloves, bay leaves, and dill {When making pickles I always tuck this onto the side of the jar a little so that I can see it...it does look pretty}.  Pour in brine and put on jar lids.  Refrigerate for at least 2 weeks before eating.

Pickling Spices

To make a nice sized batch of pickling spices fill a jar with the following combination:

5 tbs cloves

5 tbs mustard seed

5 tbs whole all spice

5 tbs black pepper--I used cracked pepper

7 tbs coriander powder

*Add about 4 tbs dill seed if you want a more dilly flavor

Brine

Brine is mixed in this ratio:

1 quart water

6 tbs pickling/kosher salt