Super Easy Homemade Pickles

My family loves pickles, and they are super easy to make and so good for you when they are fermented like these. Fermented foods have lots of probiotics (good bacteria) that help keep your gut flora healthy, which helps keep *you* healthy. 

You just need cucumbers, salt, peppercorns, dill, some garlic cloves and quart-size jars to put them in. 

My 7-year-old son Devon helped me make a batch and document the process for you. Since we homeschool, this counts as home economics class for him. (Do they even teach home ec in schools anymore?) Practical life skills right here. Anyways....on with the recipe....

You’ll need approximately one pound of pickling cucumbers per quart-size jar. First, prepare your jars. In the bottom of each jar, put a couple of whole peeled garlic cloves, some peppercorns (~1 teaspoon), and some dill (~1/2 teaspoon dried or a sprig or two fresh).  

Wash the cucumbers well and cut in halves or spears. 

Place enough halves/spears in each jar so as to pack them in tight. 

You can take a green cabbage leaf, fold it up and push it down like a cap across the top of the cucumbers (like the picture at the top of this post). This will help hold the cucumbers down during the fermentation process. If the cucumbers pop up out of the brine, they will mold. I, however, usually just make sure to pack the cucumbers tight enough that they can’t pop up, since I don't typically have green cabbage on hand. If I don't quite have enough cucumbers to pack a jar tight enough, I'll add a carrot to fill in the space since I do typically have carrots on hand.

Make a brine by dissolving 1 tablespoon salt per 2 cups water. I dissolve the salt in a little bit of hot water then add enough cold water to get the amount I need.

Pour the brine into the jars to cover the cucumbers. They must be completely submerged or they will mold.  

Put the lids onto the jars (plastic lids are preferable, but metal will suffice). Let the cucumbers sit out on the counter away from direct sunlight until desired doneness, which will vary greatly with the temperature of your house. With my house at 76 degrees F, it takes about a day and a half. At colder temperatures, it may take several days. Monitor them closely as they can turn mooshy if overdone and nobody likes mooshy pickles.  

Once done, move the jars to the refrigerator and they'll last a long time in the fridge. 

For more info on the benefits of fermented foods, see this article from the Washington Post. 

If you like this recipe, check out my recipes for Easy Homemade Granola Cereal, Chocolate Banana Hemp Popsicles, and Chicken Adobo.

Thanks for reading! 

Corinne Stokes