Half-Sour and Full-Sour Pickles

Ingredients

• 1 kg Kirby cucumbers, small, firm, unwaxed; scrubbed, blossom end trimmed
• For the brine
• 1 litre water, unchlorinated if possible; chlorine can inhibit fermentation
• 30–50 g kosher salt, 3–5% by weight of water; 30 g for a milder brine, 50 g for a more assertive one
• Aromatics
• 1 large bunch fresh dill, crowns, leaves, and stems; not dried
• 6–8 cloves garlic, whole, smashed
• Aromatics (optional)
• 1 tsp mustard seed
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• Optional (for crispness)
• 1 fresh grape leaf or oak leaf, tannins help maintain crispness during fermentation

Method

1. 1
   Dissolve the kosher salt completely in the water to form the brine. Stir until no granules remain. The brine should taste distinctly salty — assertive but not overwhelming. This is the foundation of safe fermentation: too little salt permits harmful bacteria; too much inhibits the Lactobacillus.
2. 2
   Trim a thin slice from the blossom end of each cucumber. This removes enzymes concentrated at that end that would otherwise soften the pickle. Pack the cucumbers vertically and tightly into a clean jar or crock. Layer the fresh dill (crowns, stems, and leaves), smashed garlic cloves, and any optional spices — mustard seed, peppercorns, bay leaf — among and around the cucumbers. If using, tuck the grape or oak leaf in at this stage.
3. 3
   Pour the prepared brine over the cucumbers until they are fully covered. Every cucumber must be submerged. Place a weight — a small plate, a zip-lock bag filled with brine, or a dedicated fermentation weight — directly on top of the cucumbers to hold them beneath the surface. Any cucumber exposed to air above the brine line will develop mould. The brine level should sit at least 2 cm above the uppermost cucumber.
4. 4
   Cover the vessel loosely — a cloth, a loose lid, or a fermentation lid — to allow gases produced by fermentation to escape while keeping dust and insects out. Do not seal the jar airtight. Leave at room temperature, out of direct sunlight. Within 1–2 days the brine will begin to turn cloudy and small bubbles will appear: this is the Lactobacillus at work. The brine should smell pleasantly sour and briny, not putrid or foul.
5. 5
   For half-sour pickles: taste the cucumbers after 2 days. The cucumber should still be bright green, very crisp, and carry a mild, fresh tang — garlic and dill forward, with only a gentle acidic edge. At 2–4 days, when the balance of freshness and mild sourness is correct to taste, move the jar to the refrigerator. Cold temperature halts active fermentation and holds the pickle at this stage.
6. 6
   For full-sour pickles: continue fermentation at room temperature for 1–4 weeks, tasting periodically. The brine will become more opaque and more acidic in aroma. The cucumbers will shift from bright green to an olive-green throughout — a colour change visible all the way to the centre when the pickle is cut. The full-sour is ready when the cucumber is olive-coloured through, deeply tangy on the palate, and still retains some crunch at the core. Move to the refrigerator when that balance is reached.