Fermented pickles are amazingly delicious. Yet, like all fermented foods, they are susceptible to spoilage if you plan on storing them for more than a few months. Canning fermented pickles means that you can enjoy the delicious flavour of traditional fermented pickles all winter long.

What about the probiotics?

Unfortunately canning fermented pickles in a hot water bath means that these pickles are no longer probiotic. Canning kills all the bugs (good and bad.) However, canned pickles will last in your cupboard for a year (or more.)

If you are interested in probiotic pickles, then try my recipe for probiotic pickles or Grandma’s fermented pickles.

Canning Fermented Pickles

Fermenting storage pickles - how to preserve fermented pickles

Do you want to enjoy the flavour of fermented pickles all winter long? This recipe involves a quick fermentation for flavour, then uses a boil water bath canner to preserve the pickles in their brine. These shelf-stable pickles will last in your cupboard for a year or more!

Author: Emillie
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: Approx. 6 quart jars
Category: Pickles
Method: Fermented
Cuisine: Polish

Scale

Ingredients

2 lbs pickling cucumbers
1 liter (4 cups) of water
2 tbsp white vinegar
1/4 cup of non-iodized salt
2 dill flowers or sprigs of dill weed
4 cloves of garlic
2 tsp pickling spices (optional)
2 tbsp grated horseradish root (see notes)

Instructions

Wash the cucumbers and trim off the blossom ends. Cut up the larger cucumbers as required.
Pack cucumbers into a sterile container for fermenting. (See notes for more details.)
Divide the spices between your jars. For example in a large mason jar I would add in 1-2 cloves of garlic, 1 sprig of dill and 1 tsp of spices.
Combine water, vinegar and salt to make a brine.
Pour the brine over the cucumbers.
Allow to ferment somewhere cool and dark for 2-3 weeks. Check every 2-3 days, and skim off the foam/scum and top up the brine as needed. The pickles are finished when they have changed from bright green to a dull green and have a delicious fermented flavour.
Remove the pickles from the brine. Then strain the brine into a small pot, discarding the dill, spices and garlic.
Pack the pickles into hot canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
Bring the strained brine to a boil and pour over the pickles, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
Using snap lids, process the jars in a boiling water canner (10 minutes for 500 ml jars and 15 minutes for quart jars).

Notes

Pickles will become soft and mushy overtime. While removing the blossom end helps, you can also add a source of tannin like: a grape leaf, 1 tbsp of grated horseradish root, or a pinch of black tea.
If this is your first time fermenting, you should probably read up on basic fermentation advice.
Using a fermenting crock is traditional for fermenting pickles; however, you can skip skimming the scum if you use a fido jar (affiliate links) instead.

Keywords: canning, fermented, storage, traditional, summer, fall, winter, water bath, vegan, gluten free, nut free, dairy free, paleo, keto