The Perfect Pickle

There's no such thing as the perfect pickle. But, now that I know how to do it, I can ferment a batch of tasty pickles pretty consistently. I used to wonder why the pickles that I got at New York deli's when I was a kid were delicious, but the one's that I bought at the store as an adult were crap. It's because the New York deli boys knew how to ferment a cucumber. The pickles in the store are vinegar pickles. They're not pro-biotic, they are not fermented, and they don't taste good. Food that is good for us should taste good.

BEST CUCUMBERS AND HOW LONG TO FERMENT

There are few key things needed to make a good pickle. The first is the cucumber. You need to get small kirby/pickling cucumbers. No other cucumber makes a classic deli pickle. Unfortunately, these are seasonal. That means that we can only pickle during the Summer. That's okay with me because it makes me appreciate pickles even more. The second thing is to ferment it for the proper amount of time. Most recipes will tell you it takes a week. It depends on the environment for fermentation; but, here in Northern California it takes me about two weeks to get the cucumber fermented all the way through. You can't ferment for too long either because that risks mushiness. One way to prevent that is to put a grape leaf in with the ferment, and another way is to use ice cold refrigerated water to initially fill the jar. The cold water bath firms up the pickle and helps keep it firm through the fermentation process, even after the water has warmed to room temperature.

SALT, HERBS, AND SPICES

The other ingredients needed are salt, garlic, and dill. Although, I have done just water salt and cucumbers, and that came out pretty good. The garlic and dill give it that nostalgic deli flavor. Other spices that I like to use are brown and yellow mustard seed, coriander seed, and black peppercorns. I used a cinnamon stick once, and all I could taste was the cinnamon. If you use cinnamon, use a little bit relative to the size of the batch. As for the other ingredients, I use about a table spoon or two of high quality mineral salt, a few sprigs of dill, 3-4 skin-on and smashed garlic cloves, and a pinch of all of the spices that I listed. Cover it will ice cold filtered or spring water, a pectin rich leaf (grape leaf), and a pickle weight, then let it sit on the counter for 10-14 days.

MOLD AND STORAGE

Mold can form on the top. As long as the pickles are submerged, then they will be unaffected. Still, check the jar for mold growth and scrape it off it starts getting thick. Mold can get pretty nasty quickly, and it becomes more difficult to scrape all of it out of the liquid.

Once done fermenting, store the pickles in the fridge. They will last forever, or at least as long as the motor life on your fridge. However, usually, they go quickly. Everyone is going to want one of your perfect pickles.

PICKLING EQUIPMENT RESOURCES

The recipe that I am, admittedly, estimating (I go off of feel) is based on fermenting in a crock like this glass jar (affiliate link). I like to use this kind of wide, but not too tall, crock because the best cucumbers to pickle are the shorter ones anyway; and you can really pack a wider crock with the smaller kirby cucumbers. I also ferment in mason jars, but I can only get 4-5 cucumbers inside a mason jar. So, I have to use a lot of mason jars and precious pickle weights to ferment the same amount as in one batch of those wider glass crocks.

On the subject of pickle weights, you will need them to keep the pickles from popping up above the water line and getting moldy. If you are using mason jars, then get something like these pickle weights (affiliate link). But, if you are going with the wide crock, then get get something like this two-pieced wide pickle weight (affiliate link), if it doesn't already come with the crock (otherwise use 2 small pickle weights).

I f you are truly interested in recreating authentic and fermented NY Jewish deli foods, or Jewish foods in general, and you love Amazon affiliate links, then this book, The Gefilte Manifesto, is a great resource. In fact, my recipe below is based on their fermented spiced pickle.