To be honest, I only recently realized you can pickle veggies in salt at room temperature. I was making the cucumbers in salt only in the sun and pickling in the yeast from the bread after a Hungarian recipe.
I was a bit hesitant at first, since I know that the pickles can grow yeast or grow unhealthy bacteria. But then I watched Adam Ragusea’s video about pickling where he refers to the National Center for Home Food Preservation where they give a super useful tip: in order to prevent the growth of unhealthy bacteria, add 5% of vinegar. Bad bacteria can’t really grow in an acidic environment, but the lacto bacillus (that makes our pickles) can. So until the brine gets sour itself in a few days, this 5% concentration of vinegar helps your pickles to not grow any harmful things. And do not worry, they will not taste like vinegar at all.
The other very important trick is to keep the process anaerobic: the cucumbers can’t have any contact with the air. I achieve this by placing on them a glass weight. But you can also place a ceramic little baking dray or any other dish, a stone or a ziplock back filled with brine.
It work really well for me and in 4-7 days I get pickles that hold in the fridge for months.
They are delicious, crunchy and healthy for our gut!
- I use small cucumbers, finger sized or a bit bigger so that the pickling is fast.
- Add on the bottom of a jar 2-3 cloves of garlic and fresh dill.
- Cut the cucumber flower part which can contain bacteria, only a few cm.
- Place the cucumbers tight in the jar.
- Add a glass weight on top of them so that there is no air contact.
- Prepare your chlorine free water with 2.5% salt and 5% vinegar.
- Pour the water over the cucumbers until they are fully cover and add more for evaporation. Shake the jar so any air bubbles come out.
- Place it in a safe place like a shelf in your cellar or storage room for 4 to 7 days until you achieve the desired softness.
- You will notice them changing color more and more.
- Once done, throw away the dill and garlic and keep them in the liquid with the weight on still in the fridge for a few weeks (mine keep even a few months).
