Fermented dill pickles

Making pickles is super easy, fast and fun! The fermentation process is better than using a vinegar solution, because a natural salt brine combined with the microbes in the cucumbers will create strong natural probiotics that typically aren't found in store bought pickles. So besides being delicious, they're super healthy for aiding in digestion, boosting your immune system and helping healthy gut flora grow. They taste just like the typical kosher dill pickles you'll buy in the store with added healthy benefits.



Ingredients:

2-3 pickling cucumbers
1 tablespoon of sea salt
garlic
dill
filtered water

Directions:

Cut your cucumbers into spears by chopping longways into 4-8 pieces. Stuff the spears into a clean mason jar. Add your salt, garlic, and dill. Fill the jar up to the very top with filtered water, close with a lid, and shake well to blend the ingredients.

Let the jar sit in a tray in a dark place for 1-4 days. Check the pickles every day and also make sure the water/brine solution is still filled to the top and completely covering your cucumbers. You can feel them and they should start to soften when they are ready. You can taste test to see if they're sour enough for your liking. If you let them ferment for too long you cannot reverse the process so I suggest checking every day. Mine took only 2 days, but depending on temperature, strength of brine, size of cucumbers, etc. the time may vary. Once they're finished you can transfer them to the fridge to slow down the fermentation process where they will last several weeks or months. They taste best left in the brine solution.

Feel free to experiment with your pickles by adding other ingredients such as chili powder, hot peppers, lime, lemon, grape leaves, other herbs, etc.