Choosing Quality Cucumbers for Fermentation
I suggest using one of three types of cucumbers when making fermented cucumbers. First, English cucumbers, the long cucumbers normally sold tightly wrapped in plastic, work well. The second is pickling; these are the shorter, bumpy, lighter green cucumbers. Third is the Persian cucumber (my favorite), also known as teeny tiny or cocktail cucumbers.
Do not use slicing cucumbers for fermentation. These are very smooth, dark green cucumbers. They’re usually fat and long. Most slicing cucumbers will turn into a soggy mess through the fermentation process. Slicing cucumbers are also normally wax-coated, which disrupts the fermentation process.
Here’s my checklist for choosing good cucumbers:
- Density: The cucumber should feel heavy, like it is hydrated and has turgor pressure. It should not feel hollow, like yellow squash, if you tap your finger against it.
- Check for surface mold: Look for indentations and soft spots in the cucumbers. You do not want to buy a squishy cucumber. Cucumbers near molding will have dark, small, circular indentations or black “pocks” on the surface.
- Small is Better: The bigger the diameter of the cucumber, the soggier your pickles will be. For English cucumbers, look for one with a smaller diameter. If you are buying pickling cucumbers, go for the smaller, daintier ones. If you can find cocktail cucumbers, they will work fantastically.
- Color: Pickling cucumbers should be predominantly green with streaks of yellowish-green. English cucumbers should be a solid medium green color.
Fermenting Sliced Cucumbers Two Ways
How you slice cucumbers impacts how the pickles hold up during fermentation. You should always remove the ends of cucumbers and not include the ends in the fermentation. The blossom end of cucumbers contains enzymes that can soften the cucumbers.
It’s also vital to remove the seeds of large (I’m just going to say it, girthy) cucumbers. Mature, overgrown cucumbers have broad seed cavities with lots of enzymes, high water content, and weak cell structures. When exposed to salt, the watery centers lack the structural integrity needed to stay firm and physically break down, leaving the pickle hollow or soft from the inside out.
So if you have a bigger, mature cuke, you need to scoop out those seeds. Mature cucumbers with bigger seed cavities are probably the number one reason our readers end up with soggy pickles.
There are two slicing techniques I recommend when fermenting cucumbers into pickles. For pickle chips, a ripple-cut pickle holds up better than a straight-sliced pickle. You can get a cheap and simple ripple cutter by clicking here. I also suggest fermenting pickle spears or halves, which hold up even better than pickle chip slices. Spears and halves can be cut with a regular knife.
The Benefits of Fermented Cucumbers
Have you ever heard of GABA? It stands for Gamma-aminobutyric acid. It is a naturally occurring, non-protein amino acid that works as a neurotransmitter in your brain. GABA is studied and produced for its multitude of benefits:
- relieving anxiety
- improving mood
- inhibition of cancer cell proliferation
- reducing symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
- aiding in attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treatment
- lean muscle growth
- stabilizing blood pressure
- relieving muscle pain
Well, it turns out that microorganisms produce GABA in multitudes during the lactic acid fermentation of vegetables! This is especially true in fermented cucumbers.
Biologically synthesized GABA is more usable by the human body than chemically synthesized GABA. So if you need a mental wellness boost, try eating some fermented cucumbers.
Probiotic Bacteria in Fermented Cucumbers
Cucumbers naturally have a lot of Lactobacillus plantarum on their surface. This abundance of Lactobacillus makes fermented pickles excellent for gut health. It also makes cucumbers ferment a little faster than other vegetables. While cabbage takes four weeks to ferment, pickles take about two weeks. You can ferment pickles for four weeks for extra sour flavor, if you like, but they may get softer the longer they ferment at room temperature.
Preventing Sogginess When Fermenting Sliced Cucumbers
To help prevent sogginess, start with cold cucumbers and a 3.5% total salt concentration. The most important thing you can do to keep your fermented pickles crisp is to use at least 3.5% total salt.
You can add bay leaves, sencha green tea, and grape leaves for tannins. You can also try adding calcium chloride salt to pickles, which is very effective at keeping things crunchy. (Some sources of calcium chloride are natural from limestone… and some are chemically produced. I suggest researching this salt and deciding if you’d like it in your food).
Don’t forget, as mentioned above, how you slice your cucumber matters. Stick to ripple cuts or spears/halves for the best results.
If you still end up with pickles that just are not as crisp as you want, use them to make some delicious Fermented Pickle de Gallo!
Preventing Spices from Floating
If using dry spices in pickles, you can easily stop the spices from floating at causing issues. Put the spices in a small piece of cheesecloth or a tea bag and tightly tie it closed.
Nestle the little spice pouch at the bottom of the jar, under the cucumbers. You will still get all the flavor from the spices without anything floating.
Fermented Cucumbers and Mold
By following directions, you should not encounter this problem. Note that most vegetables that are actually fruits (anything that grows from a blossom) can have pellicle growth. This is normal for vegetables that are also fruits as long as it does not look furry, pink, blue, black, green, or magenta.
A safe pickle pellicle is normally opaque, off-white, and crinkly. If you have surface growth like this, it’s a harmless mixed colony of wild yeasts. It’s not “mold”…you can skim it off the top and still eat your pickles. See the two pictures below as a reference for what a normal pickle pellicle looks like.
What Should My Fermented Cucumbers Smell and Look Like?
As always, I tracked these pickles through the whole fermentation process, so I can tell you all about the sensory cues to watch for as they ferment! This timeline is for pickles fermented at 72-78 degrees F. The process will be slower in colder conditions and faster in warmer conditions, but will follow the same pattern.
24 – 72 hours: All contents in the jar should be submerged beneath the brine. The brine will be pretty clear at first, and will start to get a bit murky. You’ll see little bubbles forming in between the pickle slices. There won’t be a ton of bubbles until about day 4, though. (This is stage one of fermentation, and there’s not much going on that you can see)
72 hours – 7 days: After 72 hours, you should start to see lots of bubbles. You need to burp the jar if you are using a rust-proof mason jar lid (as I recommend). Cucumbers in this stage should change color from vibrant green to pale olive. You will also notice the brine becomes very cloudy. Leuconostoc bacteria begin to thrive, producing lots of carbon dioxide and acetic acid. You can open the jar whenever to ensure everything is submerged and the lid stays clean. If anything is floating to the surface, scoop it out with a clean spoon. If the lid looks dirty at all, wash it with hot, soapy water, then place it back on the jar.
7 – 12 days: Bubbles in the brine will decrease as the ferment leaves stage two and enters stage three of fermentation. The brine will be quite cloudy and start to develop a pleasantly sour smell. You’ll probably start to see sediment at the bottom of the jar, and the bubbles will stop completely. Lactobacillus species are most abundant.
12 – 14 days: Lactobacillus makes up the majority or all of the microbial population now. They produce copious amounts of lactic acid, making the pickles smell even more pleasantly sour. At this time, you can smell, taste, and refrigerate! The pickles should have a pH of 4 or below. They are now super probiotic and well preserved.
What if my fermented pickles are too salty?
If these fermented pickles are too salty for your taste buds, it’s an easy fix! Pour off half the brine into an empty jar and top off the pickles with apple cider vinegar. Shake to combine. This will dilute the saltiness and add a lovely vinegar flavor. And don’t worry, vinegar does not kill the acid-tolerant probiotic microbes in the pickles. Be sure to save the brine to make my probiotic pickled garlic or probiotic pickled onions.
Fermented Cucumbers: Fermenting Sliced Cucumbers Two Ways
Tired of soggy fermented pickles? This fermented cucumbers recipe makes it easy to ferment crunchy and crisp pickles. Learn the best techniques for fermenting sliced cucumbers ready to eat in just two weeks!
- Prep: 20 minutes
- ferment: 2 weeks
Ingredients
- 460 grams cucumbers
- 320 grams water
- 28 grams sea salt
- 20 grams shallot, minced
- Fresh dill
- 1 thyme sprig
- 3 teaspoons pickle spices*
Instructions
- Please see the recipe notes before you begin.
- Wash all of your fermentation equipment (jar, weight and lid)
- Wash your cucumbers in cool water.
- Slice your cucumbers either as ripple cut chips or as spears/halves. Remove and discard the cucumber ends.
- Place your kitchen scale on the counter. Turn it on and set it to weigh in grams.
- Weigh out the designated amounts of all your ingredients.
- Add everything to the mason jar. (It helps if you put anything cut small, like shallots, below the cucumbers to keep them from floating)
- Add in any spices (If using dry spices, you can avoid them floating to the surface. Place the spices in a small piece of cheesecloth or tea bag and tie it closed. Nestle the little spice pouch at the bottom the the jar, under the cucumbers. By doing this, you will still get all the flavor from the spices, without anything floating.)
- Place the lid on the jar, and secure. Shake the jar vigorously for 2 minutes to dissolve all the salt.
- Remove the lid. Place your clean fermentation weight in the jar, making sure to submerge the cucumber pieces and weight fully in the liquid.
- Secure the lid to the jar (you don’t need to significantly tighten it; just close it).
- Let the cucumbers ferment for 14 days at room temperature. Set the jar in a glass dish to catch any spills.
- If you tighten the lid a lot, you should burp the jar daily when it is bubbling. It also helps to open up the jar daily to rinse the lid clean and re-submerge or scoop out any floating bits.
- After 2 weeks, remove the fermentation weight and smell and taste test. Your fermented pickles should smell pleasantly sour and taste tart and salty! (if it’s warmer in your kitchen you can taste test around 10 days).
- Too salty for you? Pour off half the brine into an empty jar and top off the pickles with apple cider vinegar! Shake to combine. Save the brine to make my probiotic pickled garlic or probiotic pickled onions.
- Store in the fridge. Please leave a review below if you love this fermented pickle recipe!
Notes
- Pickling, Persian, or cocktail cucumbers work best. Make sure they are small-diameter. Cucumber recommendations are in the first paragraph of this blog post.
- If your cucumbers have large seed cavities, scoop out the seeds and cut into spears.
- The timeline is adjustable based on temperature. Fermentation is faster at warm temperatures. You can taste test at 10 days and see how you like them.
- This recipe at 1x is for a 32- ounce jar.
- You can use fresh herbs only, or dry spices only, or a combination of both. CLICK HERE for My Easy Homemade Dill Pickle Spice Blend Recipe
- You can add other spices like allspice or clove for sweeter flavor profiles, or chili flakes for spice.
References
Production of GABA by Microorganisms
Formation of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) during the natural lactic acid fermentation of cucumber
This process went well. I do want to know about the saltiness. After two weeks can we dilute the liquid and still retain the benefit and preservation integrity?
You cannot dilute with water. You can, however, pour off half the brine and replace with apple cider vinegar, then invert gently to mix. This dilutes the salt while keeping the pH safe.
Ahhh blue fuzzy mold on the top! What happened??
I’ll need more details. Did you keep everything submerged? Did you clean your equipment well? Were you using one of those silicone lid things?
How do you prevent the shallots from rising above the water line and potentially causing mold?
I put them in the bottom of the jar below the cucumber slices.
Very good recipe!!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
This is the gold-standard for pickles! It’s our favorite recipe, and my young kids are obsessed with the product.
Hola!! Feliz año nuevo!!
I love your recipes. Kombucha has fixed up muy gut❤️.
Thank you very much.
I would like to ask about kombucha vinegar. Could it be used to preserve vegetables and fruits?
For example, i prepare cucumber for salads with salt and kombucha, and let it stay 24h to 48h in the fridge. After that i add it to many kind o salads. But, how many time it could be ok?
Thank you very much for everything
Yeah I think you can use kombucha vinegar to make some refrigerator pickles! Just don’t try it for shelf stable pickling. That’s a little more nuanced.
I’m glad I found someone sharing the recipe to make fermented pickles and other vegetables. I like the old ways, hopefully this will help with my gut biom. It’s out of whack. Thank you for this blog. I’ve got to get away from this highly processed food.
I’ve just started this culture and was reading somewhere else that putting a couple of uncooked (not tinned, just hard ) chickpeas into each jar to keep the pickles crisp
I’m attempting this!
Have you heard anything about this
Never tried that, so can’t recommend. I suggest asking the author of the article you read that in.
These turned out so flippin delicious! 2 questions though;my measured water didn’t cover the cucumber…do I just add more salt/water ratio? Next question, when using leftover brine for the fermented garlic or onion s can I use anything else besides ACV? we detest the taste haha
Yeah, you can add some 3.5% salt brine! and to use the left over brine, you can use all leftover brine or any other vinegar you like. Red wine vinegar and rice vinegar are really yummy!