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Crispy Homemade Half-Sour Pickles Recipe

Crispy Homemade Half-Sour Pickles

Fresh small cucumbers ferment briefly in a seasoned 3% brine to create crunchy, lightly tangy refrigerator pickles. This recipe yields about 1 quart and requires no cooking.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 minute
Servings: 1 servings
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Cucumbers and Brine
  • 1 1/2 lb Small pickling cucumbers, preferably Kirby or Persian
  • 3 cups Filtered water
  • 21 g Noniodized pickling or kosher salt
Seasonings
  • 4 cloves Garlic cloves, lightly crushed
  • 4-6 sprigs Fresh dill sprigs
  • 1 small handful Fresh dill fronds
  • 1 teaspoon Black peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon Coriander seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds, optional
  • 1 leaf Small fresh grape leaf, optional

Method
 

Step-by-Step
  1. Wash the cucumbers well and trim a very thin slice from the blossom end of each one. Leave small cucumbers whole, or halve or quarter larger ones.
  2. Stir the salt into the filtered water until it dissolves completely. This creates a 3% brine, approximately 30 g salt per liter of water, which is a standard strength for crisp half-sour pickles.
  3. Place half of the garlic, dill, peppercorns, coriander seeds, and optional mustard seeds into a clean 1-quart jar or fermentation vessel. Pack the cucumbers tightly without crushing them.
  4. Add the remaining seasonings and the optional grape leaf. Pour in enough brine to cover the cucumbers completely, then use a fermentation weight or small clean glass weight to keep them submerged.
  5. Cover the jar loosely with a lid or use an airlock. Leave it at cool room temperature, ideally 65-72°F (18-22°C), for 1 to 3 days.
  6. Begin tasting after 24 hours. When the cucumbers are lightly tangy but still crisp, refrigerate the jar for at least 12 hours before serving.

Notes

Use very fresh cucumbers and measure salt by weight when possible. Keep the cucumbers submerged throughout fermentation, use clean utensils, and refrigerate the finished pickles. Consume within several weeks for best quality. Discard the batch if the pickles become noticeably soft, slimy, or develop an unpleasant odor.