How To Make Pickles

There’s nothing wrong with the classics. especially when they’re as customisable as traditional pickles! However I’ll be honest, and I know I’m going to step on a lot of toes when I say this … I don’t like the Vinegar taste!

I know, I know … But hear me out!

To me vinegar is such an overwhelming taste, and controls about 50% of the flavour of your pickles! so what if there was a way to almost completely terminate that, and give the pickle its time to shine? well, that’s exactly what I did in Episode 7 of The Fermentation Show! and it worked a treat, and possibly might be one of the best pickles I have ever made! no longer am I forced to make pickles that I winced at! as for now, my half sour pickles will get me by … and from this moment on, they will get you by too!

 

Here’s all you’ll need to make your pickles, and when I say how incredibly easy this ferment is, believe me, it’s almost as easy as Kraut!

 

 

You will need:

1. Water
2. Salt
3. Baby Cucumbers (I got my ones from Sainsburys.co.uk)
4. (OPTIONAL) Aromatics

 

Now here’s the thing, a pickle brine is easy to make, but it must have the correct ratio of salt and water. Have a look at this table that we have made. this will help you be able to decipher how much of the ingredients you will need!

 

Step 1: Put your water and salt mixture into a jar with an airtight, or clip top seal on it. Personally, my favourite jars to use are these Pearl Jars. if you want to check them out click here and it will take you to the exact jar that I use for pickling (And pretty much everything else, I love these jars!)

Step 2: Seal the jar and shake it, making sure that you make a fully combined the salt water mixture in your jar! This is now your base brine, and has universal applications, however, that’s a topic for another day!

Step 3: Add any aromatics you want to your brine. Now this bit is up to you, but I’ll tell you some perfect aromatics to make a nice Chilli Pickle! First of all, an essential to any pickle brine I make, chop up 2 cloves of garlic and chuck them into your jar, on top of this you can add around 10g of mustard seeds, a few sprinkles of chilli flakes, a teaspoon of paprika, and 5 cloves of garlic!

Step 4: Seal your jar once again and shake it, to ensure that all of the aromatics are incorporated into the brine!

Step 5: Put your cucumbers into your brine whole, do not slice the cucumbers, as they will become mushy! It is fairly important that you try and fill the jar with as much brine as you can, so if you have a bit of space left at the top of the jar, I would get 500ml (0.13 Gallons) of water, and around 17g (1 tbsp) of salt, and stir it all together. After this just top up the rest of your brine, so that there is almost no air in the jar.

Step 6: Seal your jar once again and leave it for exactly 10 days in the fridge! this will give you your ideal half sour pickle! Personally, I change the position of the jar each day, so the first day the jar will be stood normally and the second day I will leave it on its head. I will change this every day, so it allows the whole pickle to be submerged if there are any air pockets in the jar!

Step 7: Make yourself a cheddar and pickle sandwich … you earned it after waiting 10 days for those juicy pickles to be ready!

 

Now here’s a major game changer, you know that brine that you just made? well … IT’S REUSABLE! So if you wanted to chuck your pickles straight into the jar, feel more than welcome to do so! Although personally, I don’t use mine more than twice, as it starts to get a bit less fresh after that point!

I hope you enjoy your pickles, as well as experimenting with different flavours in your brine!

For more Fermentation recipes, check out The Fermentation Show! With a new episode every Wednesday at 6 pm how could you resist! Click Here to Check It Out!