kosher dill pickles 2 ways
There are two ways to make pickles: Soaking in a Vinegar solution; and Fermenting in a Salt solution.
Here, I'm making a Kosher Dill Pickle recipe both ways.
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- Kosher Dill Pickles 2 ways
the vegetables
In both recipes, the vegetables are the same: cucumbers and garlic. I added fresh Dill to make them Dill flavored Kosher pickles. I added a few peppercorns and a crumbled bay leaf to each jar.
Both recipes used salt. A salt solution for the ferment, and much less salt sprinkled on top of the vegetables in the vinegar pickle recipe.
I used distilled water and kosher salt.
I did NOT pre-dissolve the salt for the ferment, which may affect the results. Instead, I dribbled distilled water over the salt to incorporate it into a solution.
The only real difference was the vinegar solution for a vinegar pickle. I simmered white vinegar and water, in roughly equal amounts, and ladled it over the raw vegetables.
 38oz-jar
from Walmart |
 sekmet-glass-widemouth-weights from Amazon |
For the fermented pickles, I used this jar and one of the glass weights to keep the veg submerged in the solution. I took the lid off for the duration of the fermenting process. I used cheesecloth over the open jar secured with a rubber band.
Once processed for 14 days, I took out the weight and re-attached the lid.
For the vinegar pickles, I used a standard wide mouth jar for the spears, and a 17.5oz size of the jar above for the slices. I got that jar from Walmart also.
 vinegar-kosher dill 1-spears |
 vinegar-kosher dill 2-slices |
 ferment-kosher dill before |
On the left are 2 versions of the vinegar pickles. On the right, the ferment process beginning & end.
check back for the results!
OH MY!!!!!
To be honest, I'm not sure how these will turn out.
- Was it a mistake to add salt to the Vinegar recipe?
- Did I cut the spears short enough so that the Fermenting process will work right?
- Was I wrong to not pre-mix the salt and water in the ferment?
It will be 14 days before I check the ferment. To be fair, I'm going to leave the vinegar pickles that long, too.
finish and sealing...
I did not seal the jars. I put the Vinegar recipe in the fridge. Once the ferment is finished, I'll chill the product and do a taste test.
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