Dill pickles (NCHFP fermented)

This fermented dill pickle formula comes from the National Center for Home Food Preservation, adapted from USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, AIB 539 (revised 2015) ¹. Quantities are per gallon capacity of the container. Mechanism lives on Fermented pickles and Lacto-fermentation. If you cut the salt, you are no longer following this process. See Food safety. Fresh-pack vinegar dills are a different NCHFP method.

1. Wash cucumbers. Cut a 1/16-inch slice off the blossom end and discard. Leave ¼-inch of stem attached ¹.
2. Place half the dill and spices on the bottom of a clean, suitable fermentation container (see NCHFP’s container notes on that page). Add cucumbers, remaining dill, and spices ¹.
3. Dissolve the salt in the Vinegar and water. Pour over the cucumbers. Add a suitable cover and weight so they stay under brine ¹.
4. Store where the temperature is 70°F to 75°F for about 3 to 4 weeks while fermenting. 55° to 65°F is acceptable but takes 5 to 6 weeks. Avoid temperatures above 80°F or pickles become too soft ¹. These ranges apply to this pickle process, not to a kraut table.
5. Check several times a week and remove surface scum or mold promptly. If pickles become soft, slimy, or develop a disagreeable odor, discard them ¹.
6. Fully fermented pickles may stay in the original container about 4 to 6 months if refrigerated, with scum removed regularly. Canning is the better store. Pour brine into a pan, heat slowly to a boil, simmer 5 minutes; filter through paper coffee filters if you want less cloud. Fill jars with pickles and hot brine, ½-inch headspace ¹.

Process from Table 1 on the NCHFP dill pickles page, or use that page’s low-temperature pasteurization treatment (180° to 185°F water for 30 minutes — managed as written there, not guessed). Raw pack, pints, boiling water, 0–1,000 ft: 10 minutes — and the rest of Table 1 for quarts and altitude. Do not copy the whole table from memory ¹. Canning owns the jar.