Countertop Pickles

Ingredients:

1 gallon glass jar
1/2 cup+ Kosher salt
a bunch of dill
peeled garlic cloves to taste
cucumbers-enough to fill the jar
grape leaves (wild will do)
water to cover

HOW TO:

Cut up dill (into chucks that fit) and grape leaves and garlic and cover the bottom of the jar.
Tightly pack cucumbers into jar to half full point.
Another layer of dill, grape leaves and garlic.
Pack cucumbers tightly to the shoulder of the jar—leave room for water to completely cover all ingredients.
On top wedge the cucumbers down with more dill, grape leaves and garlic (the dill wedges the cucumbers in and keeps them from floating to the top). This is important.
Add 1/2 cup of Kosher salt or a little more. The salt ensures that the “correct” bacteria grow in the jar (the kind that make acetic acid [vinegar] as a byproduct. The acetic acid does the actual pickling). Fill jar with water to the top and cover with a plate so it can breath.

I always add a bit more salt because the salinity of the water in the jar depends upon how tightly the cucumbers are packed and you can’t always control that because of the size of the cucumbers you have to work with. More salt ensures that the correct bacteria grows and not the wrong kind. If the resulting pickles are too salty some of the liquid can be poured out and replaced with fresh water after the pickles are done working and are refrigerated to stop the bacteria from growing.

Allow the pickles to work on the counter for 3 or 4 days (place the gallon jar into a bowl or tray because they will overflow). When the pickles are pickles—this amount of time will very dependent on temperature—put them into the refrigerator to stop the bacteria working. The pickles will keep in the fridge for 4-6 months.