How to Make Fermented Pickles

Many of the world's great pickles such as kimchi, kosher dills and sauerkraut are traditionally fermented and, like yogurt, they contain live bacterial cultures that replenish the natural flora of the human intestines, aiding in digestion.

Science

Vegetables naturally carry a variety of bacteria on their skin. During fermentation, a pickler creates the right environment where certain of those bacteria can grow. An anaerobic environment, an environment without air, allows bacteria like lacto bacillus (the same bacteria found in yogurt) to predominate. To create an anaerobic environment, the pickles must be immersed in liquid, either a brine made from water and salt, or ideally, one made from the vegetable's own juices and salt. The bacteria eat through the sugars in the vegetable and give off lactic acid, which preserves, or pickles, the vegetable.

Salt serves several purposes within the ferment. It prevents yeast from growing, adds flavor and helps draw the natural juices out of the vegetables.

Temperature controls how fast the vegetables ferment. Warmer temperatures promote the speedy growth of bacteria, while cooler temperatures slow the bacteria's metabolic processes. Fermented pickles, kept cool, can last up to a year or more.

Basic Process

Cut the vegetables finely. Salt them. Pound vegetables in a crock with a meat mallet or an empty bottle to extract their juices, or just wait for the salt to draw the juices out. Add spices to taste. Fill jars or crocks with vegetables and pack them tightly. After a day, make sure there is enough liquid in the jar to cover the vegetables. If necessary, add a little water, but use spring water - municipal water has been treated with chlorine to kill bacteria, but in a ferment, you want to promote bacterial growth.

Use either an open crock or a mason jar with a two-part lid to contain the ferment. Do not use a metal container, which the pickling solution may corrode. Earthenware or glass is best. Bacteria also produce gas, which can build up and cause a tightly lidded jar to explode. Mason jars' two-part lid design, a flat disk with a ring around to seal it, allows gas to escape. Fermenting vegetables in open crocks need to be weighted down to keep the vegetables under the surface of the water. A plastic bag filled with brine works well as a weight.

Keep the jars at room temperature for a few days to get the ferment going, then put them into the fridge. The pickles will be ready in seven days and will last a long time if kept cool. The vegetables will change color, and you may see bubbles forming on top. Sometimes, a harmless, but less delicious white mold forms on top of the pickles. Skim and discard it occasionally. Do not worry if some bits of the mold mix into the pickles.

Because ferments contain bacteria, you can jump-start a new ferment by adding a bit of brine from a previous batch of pickles, or even some whey - liquid obtained by straining active-culture yogurt through cheesecloth. Neither of these additions is strictly necessary.