Pickles

I started making pickles with cucumbers from our garden on Friday. I have 5 quart jars so far and the plants show no signs of slowing down. I am using a salt and whey only recipe from a cook book of my mothers called Nourishing traditions, by Sally Fallon. They're the kind of pickles I had growing up: they fizz in your mouth when you bit into them (i know that sounds strange but they are very good), like a nice kosher dill pickle. A lot of books say its not safe to to make pickles without vinegar but people have been making them for a very long time and i think you must use your common sense: smell and look at them before eating.

How i made them:

Place clean quart jars in an 200* oven for 20 min. Carefully remove jars from oven and place in each jar:
-2 cloves of Garlic
-1 head of Dill or 1 tbsp Dill seed
-1 tbsp Mustered seed
-1 tbsp pickling Salt
-1/4 cup Whey*
Pack you cucumbers in the jar so they don't float while leaving 1-2 inches head space. Fill the jar with warm water, screw on lid and shake to help dissolve the salt. Store at room temp for 3 days in the dark and then place in the fridge or in cold storage. They are ready to eat as soon as there cold, but i prefer to eat them when they have started to get fizzy, after a month or so.

* I get my whey from draining yogurt in a sieve over a bowl for 12 hours in the frige. It leaves me with a bowl of whey (which will keep in the fridge for a month) and nice thick yogurt which is easier to feed to Liam and makes a nice spread in a sandwich. If you can't or don't want to use whey just add an extra tbsp of salt.

*** All information is intended for your general knowledge only. Use this canning and preserving information at your own risk.

Hope you enjoy the recipe!