Fermented Old Bay Pickles

You didn’t think fermented pickles could get more flavorful, did you? Enter my full sour fermented Old Bay pickles, made with Old Bay seasoning! Old Bay is a classic spice blend of herbs from the Chesapeake Bay area. I decided to test a batch of fermented cucumber pickles with some of this seasoning, and wow. The flavor turned out wonderful.

Choosing Quality Cucumbers for Fermentation

I suggest using one of three types of cucumbers to ferment your pickles. First, English cucumbers, the long cucumbers normally sold tightly wrapped in plastic, work well. The second is pickling 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 indentions and soft spots in the cucumbers. You do not want to buy a squishy cucumber. Cucumbers near molding will have dark, small, circular indentions 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 dainty cucumbers. If you can find cocktail cucumbers, they will work fantastically.
Color: Pickling cucumbers should be predominately green with streaks of yellowish-green. English cucumbers should be a solid medium green color.

Fermenting Sliced Cucumbers

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.

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.

Probiotic Bacteria in Fermented Old Bay Pickles

Cucumbers naturally have a lot of Lactobacillus plantarum on their surface. This means that 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. This abundance of Lactobacillus makes fermented pickles excellent for gut health.

old bay pickles in a glass mason jar with a white plastic lid.

Crisp Fermented Old Bay Pickles

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.

Supplies You Need for Fermenting Cucumbers

32 Oz Mason Jars

Australian Sea Salt

Plastic pH Test Strips (pH 0-14)

a yellow, orange, blue and green plastic lid product image

Regular Mouth Rust Proof Mason Jar Lids

Glass fermentation weights product picture

Wide Mouth Fermentation Weights

A kitchen scale top down showing the dual scale platforms and digital measurement screen

Kitchenaid Dual Platform Scale

What Should My Old Bay Pickles 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, except for the old bay seasoning, 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.

Fermented Pickles Recipe Tips

During the first few days of fermentation: carbon dioxide and bubbles will be produced. Sometimes jars will become full of liquid, and this liquid can seep out. You can store the jar in a bowl or on a plate to catch anything that seeps out.

Remove the lid and tamper everything using a gloved hand, tamper, or spoon if necessary. Make sure everything remains submerged below the brine during fermentation. You can take the lid off regularly and rinse it off if it is dirty.

Fermented cucumbers should smell pleasantly sour and more smooth than a vinegar pickle. Never eat fermented vegetables that smell repulsive or like alcohol.

What if my old bay 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 Pickles

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