Crunchy texas half-sour pickles

CLASSIC JEWISH DELI PICKLES WITH A TEXAS TWIST

THE PICKLE PROCESS —

Half sour and full sour pickles are fermented in a salt brine. The fermentation creates acidity (lactic acid). No vinegar or heat is needed to make these probiotic, crunchy pickles.

‍Supplies:

Fresh pickling cucumbers

10 cloves of garlic, peeled

1/3 cup of Chile de Arbol

4 bay leaves

1 gallon glass jar

Fermentation weight

Salt

Filtered water (reverse osmosis or spring water)

Make this recipe during the summer when cucumbers are available fresh from local farms. They should be small, firm, and have bumps on the skin. I bought my cucumbers from Oma and Opa's Farm at the SFC farmer's market in downtown Austin.

Sanitize the glass jar and fermentation weight. Put the garlic and spices into the jar. Load the jar up with pickling cucumbers. Stir salt into water till it tastes salty like ocean water. Seawater is 5% salt and a 5% salt brine is perfect for this ferment (you can also weigh 5 grams of salt per 100 grams of filtered water). Fill the jar with the salt brine and place the weight on top to keep the cucumbers submerged underwater. Twist the lid onto the jar but not too tight. Leave to ferment at room temperature (~ 75 F) for 6-7 days. Then refrigerate, the pickles will keep in the fridge indefinitely. For full sour pickles leave to ferment at room temperature for an additional 3-4 days before refrigerating.