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I love it when I can harvest cucumbers and gherkins because it means that it’s summer! And summer, for me as a school secretary, means holiday season, one of my favourite times of the year.
While I could – and often do – eat cucumbers all summer long, gherkins are best preserved. Fermented gherkins (or salt gherkins) are a classic ferment. They are easy to make and taste wonderful, nothing like the sad store-bought gherkins that bob around sluggishly in their jars and which are, by the way, pickled and not fermented.

Now, fermented gherkins are not “better” than pickled ones, they are just preserved with a different method. Here you can read about the difference between fermentation and pickling, and if you want to try your hand at the vinegar-pickled version, check out this recipe.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to master fermented gherkins. Let’s dive in.

Fermented gherkins – Crucial aspects

As I said before, fermented gherkins are a classic recipe for lacto-acid fermentation, but there are a few aspects you need to consider.

Salt content

Fermented gherkins need a brine with a higher salt content. Where usually, a brine with 2 % salt is enough, we use a concentration of 3.5 % in this recipe. This is due to the relatively high water content of gherkins. The salt draws water from them and allows them to partly replace it with the salty brine. That way, they stay crunchy for a long time.

Tannic leaves

Additionally, I like to add leaves that contain tannin, which also help the gherkins stay crisp and crunchy. The tannin makes the cells contract and thus helps them keep their freshness. You can use the leaves of oak, wine, cherry, raspberry, blackberry, currant, bay and horseradish. If you can’t get any of those, you could also put a bag of black tea in the jar, but be prepared that it changes the gherkins’ colour.

Temperature

While I usually prefer fermenting other vegetables at temperatures around 20°C (68°F), I like to ferment gherkins at a lower temperature range between 15 and 18°C (60 – 65°F). That way, fermentation occurs a bit slower and won’t become too sour too soon. If you are up for a full-sour version, however, feel free to ferment at 20 °C / 68 °F.

Water

I use our tap water for fermenting, and it works just fine. However, if you live in a region where your tap water is highly chlorinated or the house you live in has old (rusty) pipes that could leak iron, it’s best to carbon-filter your tap water before using it for fermentation (or drinking or cooking, for that matter).

If in doubt, taste your tap water. Smelling and tasting good? Then go on and use it for fermentation. If it’s got a metallic or chlorine taste, filter it first.

Distilled water is NOT a good alternative, as – due to the lack of minerals – it tastes very bland and lets the gherkins go mushy.

Mastering fermented gherkins – Step by step

Probably the most difficult part of making fermented gherkins is getting the gherkins, unless you cultivate them in your garden. While all cucumber varieties can be fermented, gherkins are the best choice. They are uniformly small, usually up to 10 cm (4 inches). They have a thick skin that is thicker than cucumbers.

If you don’t grow your own gherkins, you can sometimes find them in the supermarket, but you need to check them carefully for freshness. Gherkins become flabby a few days after being harvested. If the ones you found show dull, wrinkled skin, they were picked too long ago. Yellow gherkins are also not suitable. They’ve been harvested overripe.

If you’ve got a farmers’ market in the vicinity, that’s a good place to buy freshly picked gherkins (or any fresh vegetables for that matter).

A word on bitterness

Sometimes, cucumbers and gherkins can get bitter, especially when the plant got stressed by too much heat, too little water or great differences in temperature. Unfortunately, fermentation won’t remove existing bitterness. If you want to ensure that your gherkins are good to use, try one or two to check that everything’s all right.

Ingredients

Yield: one jar of 4 l or 6 jars of 3/4 l

about 20 gherkins
12 – 15 garlic cloves
2 fresh dill flowers (alternatively: 2 tbsp dill seeds)
2 tbsp peppercorns
2 tbsp mustard seeds
5 bay leaves
3 l water
105 g salt
5 – 10 tannic leaves (for example, from oak, wine, raspberry, currant or blackberry)

Instructions

Thoroughly wash the gherkins and remove the vines and blossom ends. The latter contain an enzyme that makes the preserved gherkins go mushy.

Peel the garlic cloves and either press them slightly with the blade of a knife or cut them in half.

Now, layer the gherkins, the garlic cloves, bay leaves and spices in one large or several small jars. If the gherkins are too large for your jars, cut them into slices or sticks.

Prepare the brine by dissolving the salt in the water. Stir the mixture until the salt has completely dissolved.

Pour as much brine over the gherkins so that they are covered by it. Store the residual brine in the fridge.

Cover the brine surface with the tannic leaves and put a weight on them to make sure that everything stays under the brine.

Put the jar or jars on a baking tray or something similar and let everything ferment at 15 – 18 °C (60 – 65°F) in a place without direct sunlight for 4 – 7 days. Keep an eye on the jars and pour in some of the brine from the fridge if, during fermentation, too much brine flows out of the jar.

After 4 – 5 days, the gherkins are half-sour, after 6 – 7 days, they’re full-sour. Taste them to test the flavour and either eat them right away or put them in a cool place (at best the fridge) to stop or rather slow down fermentation.

You can store the jars in the aforementioned cool place for up to 1 year.

Angela Braun

Fermented gherkins

Small as they are, gherkins burst with flavour when fermented! Make this wonderful preserve with gherkins, a salt brine and a few herbs and spices.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Fermentation 5 days d

Total Time 5 days d 10 minutes mins

Course: Preserve

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• about 20 gherkins
• 12 - 15 garlic cloves
• 2 fresh dill flowers alternatively: 2 tbsp dill seeds
• 2 tbsp peppercorns
• 2 tbsp mustard seeds
• 5 bay leaves
• 3 l water
• 105 g salt
• 5 - 10 tannic leaves for example from oak, wine, raspberry, currant or blackberry

Method

 

1. Thoroughly wash the gherkins and remove the vines and blossom ends. The latter contain an enzyme that makes the preserved gherkins go mushy.
2. Peel the garlic cloves and either press them slightly with the blade of a knife or cut them in half.
3. Now, layer the gherkins, the garlic cloves, bay leaves and spices in one large or several small jars. If the gherkins are too large for your jars, cut them into slices or sticks.
4. Prepare the brine by dissolving the salt in the water. Stir the mixture until the salt has completely dissolved.
5. Pour as much brine over the gherkins so that they are covered by it. Store the residual brine in the fridge.
6. Cover the brine surface with the tannic leaves and put a weight on them to make sure that everything stays under the brine.
7. Put the jar or jars on a baking tray or something similar and let everything ferment at 15 - 18 °C (60 - 65°F) in a place without direct sunlight for 4 - 7 days. Keep an eye on the jars and pour in some of the brine from the fridge if, during fermentation, too much brine flows out of the jar.
8. After 4 - 5 days, the gherkins are half-sour, after 6 - 7 days they're full-sour. Taste them to test the flavour and either eat them right away or put them in a cool place (at best the fridge) to stop or rather slow down fermentation.
9. You can store the jars in the aforementioned cool place for up to 1 year

Notes

As long as you stick to the salt ratio of 3.5 %, you can get creative with herbs and spices. Add, for example, coriander or dried chilli flakes or cut down the amount of garlic. You can also add onion rings.

Recipe alterations

If you want a less “garlicy” taste, cut down the amount of garlic cloves. Instead, add some onion rings. You can also get creative with the spices, for example by adding dried chillies or coriander.

Troubleshooting

Although you think you’ve done everything right, some problems may occur:

Shrivelled gherkins

Either the gherkins were not fresh enough (that is, they were harvested longer than two days before you processed them) or your brine was too salty. Either way, they’ve lost too much water in the brine and have become shrivelled. Nevertheless, you can still eat them.

Hollow gherkins

Here again, the gherkins may not have been freshly harvested. Another reason for hollow gherkins is that the gherkins were too large. But like shrivelled gherkins, hollow ones are still edible.

Discolouration

During the fermentation process, it’s normal that the gherkins’ colour changes from a fresh, bright green to a dull olive green. However, if they get a different colour, there are several reasons for that.

Either the water you used for the brine was too hard or, more often, colouring spices like curcuma or vegetables like red onions caused the colour change. Discolourations, however, are harmless, and you can eat the gherkins.

Slimy gherkins

That’s a more serious problem that could have been caused by several mistakes:

• either you used too little salt in your brine (i.e. a ratio below 3.5 %) or
• fermentation temperatures were too high (15 – 18 °C / 60 – 65 °F are ideal) or
• you didn’t cut off the blossom ends or
• The gherkins were not fully covered with brine.

Unfortunately, slimy gherkins are not edible, and you must discard them.

Small pickles, big flavour

Although gherkins may be one of the smaller vegetables, their flavour becomes big once they’re fermented. They’re easy to make, don’t require many ingredients and taste so good, you’ll never want to have a pantry without them! If you want to get creative, try out different herbs and spices or cut down on the garlic. As long as you stick to the salt ratio and make sure that everything’s under the brine, you’ll be fine!