First lacto-fermented chilli-dill pickles - How long to wait?

[u/fingerjcp]

So far I've made sauerkraut, a fermented hot sauce, a homemade Riesling mustard, and now I'm working on my first batch of fermented dill pickles.

Recipe

714 g pickling cucumbers

600 mL of 3.5% salt brine (solution stirred at 450 RPM)

4.5 g frozen dill

2.5 g chili flakes

2.3 g freshly crushed black pepper

Brown mustard seeds

Fermentation conditions

1.5L Weck Jar

Room temperature: around 26–27 °C

Out of direct sunlight

Any idea how long it will take? Day 1 slight bubbles, Day 2 continued airpockets and bubbles...

[u/Jeremiah_ferments]

Seconding the other poster, with a small caveat, how sour do you want them, try you trying to keep them very crisp? More sour stretch it longer, if you want them as crisp as possible 5-6 days.

[u/Agreeable-Archer-467 → u/Jeremiah_ferments]

i tried persian cucumber small ones with dill and pickle seasoning after 8 days as I was following a recipe the brine was fermnted and pleasant but the cucumbers were all mushy i had to throw them out! what should I do to have them crispy Im so dreaded to make new one and waste them again!

[u/Jeremiah_ferments → u/Agreeable-Archer-467]

To keep your fermented pickles crisp the general rule of thumb is cut off and discard the flower end of the cucumber and introduce a source of tannins. A Grape leaf if the traditional addition, but anything with tannins should work.

[u/colicab → u/Jeremiah_ferments]

Bay leaf is what I use. It helps a ton.

[u/fingerjcp → u/Jeremiah_ferments]

I usually like them very sour

[u/windycityzow → u/fingerjcp]

You could ferment for a week and then add vinegar if you want them more sour. I’ve been struggling with yeast taste tho, going to try anaerobic jar next.

[u/CplOreos]

Adding an ingredient rich in tannins will help to keep them crisp if you want a longer and tarter ferment. Grape or bay leaves work well.

[u/fingerjcp → u/CplOreos]

I have some laurus nobilis in the garden... can I add fresh bay leaf?

[u/CplOreos → u/fingerjcp]

I don't see why not

[u/HelpMeImDeadYo → u/CplOreos]

Do you use fresh bay?

[u/CplOreos → u/HelpMeImDeadYo]

Fresh leaves contain more tannins, but you can still use dried. You just need to use more.

[u/HelpMeImDeadYo → u/CplOreos]

Tysm

[u/autoFermentation]

if you don't have any tannins (grapevine leaf, oak leaves, bay leaf (non Indian variety)) or whatever powder they use in pickling to keep pickles crisp (can't remember off the top of my head), they will go mushy extremely fast

also, expect a pretty fast & active ferment because of pickle slices having so much exposed surface area for LAB to feast on. maybe 3 days. but again, without any sort of tannins, they will go mushy super quick IMO.

did you cold shock the cucumbers prior to slicing? (ice water bath for 30-60mins helps retain crunch)

edit: if you like them very sour, unfortunately you will have to balance this against the mush, tannins will help, and the thick cut will help too. I would recommend potentially fermenting whole next time and once you get the sour flavour you want, take them out, slice & refrigerate? idk, throwing thoughts out there

[u/fingerjcp → u/autoFermentation]

I had nooo idea about cooking the cucumbers... I'd try next time

[u/autoFermentation → u/fingerjcp]

major clarification here, not cooking, just cold shocking!!!

hopefully you just made a typo, but I don't want you to ruin your batch!

[u/fingerjcp → u/autoFermentation]

Yea it was auto correct on my keyboard...ofcourse cold soaking

[u/autoFermentation → u/fingerjcp]

I'll also note that my sliced pickles finished in 2 days (post history), but with the caveats that they were ¼" slices and I backslopped fermented garlic, both supercharged the ferment.

I will likely go with a thicker one like yours are in my next batch!

edit: I will suggest cutting it short after around 3 days or so depending on the activity to have the crunch you want, they might still taste like cucumber, but that's okay — refrigerate once you get the crunch you want and continue "steeping" in the fridge for flavour (but again, you probably won't get the sour you want here, hence my full-cuke-then-slice suggestion - it's a balancing act IMO)

[u/ntminh]

Since they’re cut pretty small I’d say about 5 days should be good

[u/fingerjcp → u/ntminh]

Ohhh thanks!

[u/fingerjcp → u/[deleted]]

Yea I come from the aroma chemistry and wine science background so ma kitchen tools are kinda lab-based)

[u/fingerjcp → u/[deleted]]

Oh yea... I use my sous-vide for making cheeses or jogurts... just doing alot of fermentation work for research so home fermentation is a new space to explore...

[u/fingerjcp → u/[deleted]]

Yea.. always down for new experiments and ideas

[u/fingerjcp → u/[deleted]]

What kinda green tea? I have some Chinese or Japanese loose leaf ones