🌱 Fermented Garden Pickles with Hot Peppers

🌱 Fermented Garden Pickles with Hot Peppers

Ingredients (for 1 quart jar)

• 4–5 small cucumbers (garden fresh)

• 1–2 hot banana peppers, sliced

• 1 Hungarian wax pepper, sliced

• 3–4 garlic cloves (store-bought is fine), smashed

• 1–2 fresh dill sprigs (optional, but classic)

• 1 tsp black peppercorns (optional)

• 1 bay leaf (optional, helps keep pickles crisp)

For the brine

• 2 cups non-chlorinated water (filtered or boiled & cooled)

• 1 ½ tbsp kosher salt (non-iodized, without additives)

🥒 Instructions

1. Prepare the brine

   • Dissolve the salt into the water. Set aside.

2. Pack the jar

   • Place garlic, dill, peppercorns, and bay leaf at the bottom.

   • Pack cucumbers tightly into the jar.

   • Slide in the hot banana and Hungarian wax pepper slices.

3. Add brine

   • Pour brine over the vegetables, leaving ~1 inch of headspace at the top.

   • Weigh down the cucumbers with a fermentation weight or a small clean rock in a baggie to keep them submerged.

4. Ferment

   • Cover loosely with a lid (or use a fermentation lid/airlock).

   • Leave at room temperature (65–75°F) for 4–7 days. Burp the jar daily if using a regular lid.

5. Taste test

   • After day 3, taste a cucumber. Continue fermenting until you like the flavor (usually 5–10 days).

   • Once done, transfer to the fridge to slow fermentation.