Healthy Fermented Pickles (Easy!) Recipe

"Fermented food is good for your digestion. You should have some every day. Pickles are an easy way to get that and these do not have vinegar or cooking involved. The ice bath is critical. And the raspberry or or grape leaves are optional, but will help the pickles stay crunchy. Cook time is fermenting time. To make whey, take yogurt (2 cups), place it in a fine mesh strainer (lined with coffee liner, if possible) set in a 4 cup measure. Let it drip overnight in the fridge. In the morning, the 'water' that drips out is the whey. You now have Greek yogurt and can use the whey for this recipe. Yield 1 quart"

Step by Step Method

Step 1

Always use as fresh cucumbers as you can. Cut the ends off of the cucumbers. Rinse the cucumbers, soaking them in very cold water for 4 hours or more.

Step 2

In a glass bowl or a 2 cup measure, dissolve the salt in the water and whey (if using), stirring until dissolved.

Step 3

In the clean Fido jar, place all the spices, except for the leaves. Pack the pickles into the jar, leaving at least 1 inch of head space.

Step 4

Pour the brine (salt/water/whey) over the pickles. Make sure it covers the pickles. If not, add some more water,mixed with a little salt.

Step 5

Place the clean raspberry leaves on top of the pickles, making sure the pickles are under the brine. If you need, you can find a stone the size of the mouth of the jar, boil it for 10 minutes and put it on top of the leaves to weigh the pickles down. Close the jar tightly.

Step 6

Place on counter. After 5 days, begin to taste test them. If you like the flavor, put it in the fridge to stop the fermenting. If not, let it sit for more days. Taste it each day. Some people let them go for 1-4 weeks. If you see mold growing on the top of the pickles, just scrape it off. It's not bad. Just rinse them well when eating.

Step 7

Once they’ve fermented and are in the fridge, you can remove the raspberry leaves and you don’t need to worry as much about the cucumbers being completely submerged in the brine.