Fermented Cucumbers
Fermented is not pickled: the sourness here is made by bacteria living on the cucumbers themselves, not poured from a vinegar bottle. Our job is to give them the right salinity and keep mould out. Two rules are absolute: the cucumbers stay completely under the brine, and the foam comes off the surface several times a week. Never use less salt than the recipe says — that is what keeps everything unwanted at bay.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Rest
- 504 h
- Total
- 504 h 30 min
- Servings
- 12
- Level
- Medium
- Per serving
- 25 kcal
Ingredients
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What to use instead
Horseradish, cherry or oak leaves on the bottom add crunch through their tannins. They change nothing about the salt.
Makes: One 4 l jar
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Sort the cucumbers
Use cucumbers picked no more than a day ago; older ones go soft. Wash them and always trim the blossom end together with 2 mm of flesh: it holds an enzyme that softens cucumbers during fermentation.
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Step 2: Prepare the vessel
Wash a 4 l jar or enamel pot with soda and rinse with boiling water. It does not need sterilising — we want live bacteria — but nobody needs the dirt.
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Step 3: Pack it
Put the dill, garlic, chillies and spices on the bottom. Pack the cucumbers upright and tight: they take less room that way and float less.
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Step 4: Mix the brine
Dissolve the salt in the water, add the vinegar and stir until nothing is left at the bottom. Pour it over so the cucumbers are fully covered with 5 cm of headroom — the liquid rises as it ferments.
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Step 5: Weigh it down
Cover with a plate or a water-filled bag so not one cucumber breaks the surface. Anything sticking out will mould. Cover with muslin and leave at 21–24 °C.
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Step 6: Tend it for three weeks
Skim the foam and film off the surface several times a week. At 21–24 °C fermentation takes 3–4 weeks; at 13–18 °C, 5–6 weeks. They are done when the colour is an even olive green with no white patches inside.
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Step 7: Move them to the cold
Close the jar and move it to the fridge or a cellar. There they keep 4–6 months, as long as you go on removing any film from the surface.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Cloudy brine is normal — that is what lactic fermentation looks like. Slimy cucumbers, soft skin or a bad smell mean the jar goes down the drain.
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Swap
Horseradish, cherry or oak leaves on the bottom add crunch through their tannins. They change nothing about the salt.
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Tip
Iodised salt and free-flowing table salt cloud the brine and slow the ferment. Plain coarse pickling salt is what this needs.
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Storage
Anything above 27 °C is the main cause of failure: the cucumbers go soft within days. In a heatwave, ferment in the coolest room you have.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 12 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 25 kcal | 300 kcal |
| Protein | 1 g | 12 g |
| Fat | 0 g | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 5 g | 60 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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