Looking for a good dill pickle recipe

Hey guys, I got some banana peppers and cucumbers I was looking to pickle. I am hoping to avoid sweet pickle recipes but if you got any great dill pickle recipes this would be fabulous! The internet is saturated with recipes that call for pickle spice......thats not a REAL recipe! Hopefully this forum is saturated with DIY pickle enthusiasts that would be willing to share their favorite and tested recipes

This is a lacto-fermentated pickle that we love and it keeps refrigerated for months, if you can keep from eatting them all.
The recipe is from Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions"

I make these every few days...here' s a walk through.
They are made in wide mouth quart jars. First I go to the garden and cut some dill flowers and leaves then three or four suyo long cucumbers. Chop the dill into the jar add a couple peeled smashed cloves of garlic then slice the cucumbers into the jar about quarter inch slices. press down ligntly fill just below one inch from top of jar.
in another glass container mix 1 Tablespoon sea salt, 4 Tablespoons good whey ( I have a friend who makes goat cheese ...if you can't get whey you need to use 2 Tablespoons sea salt) and one cup filtered water. mix until the salt dissolves and pour over cucumber slices to cover to one inch below top of the jar. add more filtered water if you need to.
The lid I use is one of the plastic widemouth lids sold with canning stuff and I line it with a real canning tip and screw it on really tight .
"Lacto-fermentation is an anaerobic process and the presence of oxygen, once fermentation has begun, will ruin the final product"
I tighten well enough to be able to invert the jar for a few hours if it later looks like something is floating. Dont open it for two days. I write the day and the time on each jar...leaving it too long will ruin them.
The flavor is amazing and I used to make brined whole dills (these are better and so much easier)...This book is probably worth having or at least you could read the part on lacto fermentation.. Let me know if you have any questions. I would really try to use whey...active not pasterized...the extra salt works but not as reliably and they are saltier of course.

just to be clearer...
with whey use one Tbs sea salt/ four Tbs whey/one cup filtered water
no whey...use two Tbs sea salt/one cup filtered water

my house is slightly cooler than outdoors (pretty warm). I know they take longer at cooler temperatures but I have not had that experience. I cover them with a dark cloth to keep out the light.
and open the jar after two days and taste them...I keep a gallon lidded jar in the refrigerator to pour them into.

I use the same recipe for green tomato wedges but I dont know about peppers...the book has a red pepper ferment that I havent tried and a red tomato relish that is really good.

I hope this is the last edit...I keep finding typos.

Why is whey used? I was hoping for a recipe that will allow me to can for long periods of time? Thanks for your suggestion.

Here is why whey, straight out of the book: "Rich in lactic acid and lactic acid producing bacteria, whey acts as an inoculant, reducing the time needed for sufficient lactic acid to be produced to ensure preservation."

If you are not already into lacto-fermentation you will want to do more research.
Because your original question said a "a good dill pickle" I didnt think canning. I hope someone can help.

I imagine this would be a great recipe but I have so much I need to preserve.

I'll ask my friend for her Ukrainian bubba's grapeleaf secret.

Amedean Messan wrote:I imagine this would be a great recipe but I have so much I need to preserve.

I've lacto-fermented loads of pickles at a time just using sea salt ((it can't be iodised salt), water and spices. I can't seem to grow dill, but fennel works fine.
I toss in whatever spices I feel like.
Whey speed things up and allows less salt to be used, but it's not a requirment.
I imagine salting the gherkins overnight might make them crispier, but I've found they stay crunchy for a looong time stored at room temp.
I've never used grape leaves, but apparently the tannin, or something, keeps food crunchy.

Ukrainian bubba's grapeleaf secret

Sounds very exciting, please do share

I found a recipe on NPR website that I just started last night . Can not attest to its goodness yet , but anything labeled Grandma Minnies Dill Pickle recipe and includes a picture of Grandma Minnie might be good. Contains no alum or other nasties. Go to Food and Life section under " The Salt ". Article is called " Three
Secrets to a Crispy Pickle ". If it turns out well I will post the recipe .

Make yourself a salt brine to have on hand, and pickles could not be easier!

My veggie brine is 6 T salt to 1/2 gallon water. Stir until salt is dissolved and keep that in a 1/2 gallon jar, accessible. Make more as needed.

Bring your cukes in from the garden (small and picklers are best). Wash, crisp up in cold water for about 15 minutes. Trim off the ends (very important to avoid mushy pickles). Pack in a jar with a few cloves of garlic and any herbs you like (like dill). Add a pinch of black tea (the tannins will help the pickles stay fresh). Pour brine over all. Secure the lid tightly and give them about 3 days at room temperature, give or take depending on room temp. If it is really hot, it won't take so long, and too much time will turn them to mush.

Transfer to cold storage. I just ate my last pickle from last year and it was crisp and delicious.

Fennel instead of dill...brilliant! Thanks, I too have ton of fennel and no dill. It didn't reseed itselfbthis season.

My mouth is just watering thinking of these pickles.

This sounds like a good , basic recipe but I've never made 'em. Just sayin'. They sound good but I don't know.
http://www.wildfermentation.com/making-sour-pickles-2/


BTW, the tannins in certain leaves keep your pickles crispy so that is the reason behind adding just a wee handful of leaves to each jar.


Here's another good sounding pickle recipe.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/805067

All you guys are just amazing.....thanks!