Half sour pickles, from the cookbook "Cold Canning" by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, sit on a serving dish. (Eric Medsker/Voracious via AP)
Half sour pickles, from the cookbook "Cold Canning" by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, sit on a serving dish. (Eric Medsker/Voracious via AP)

This recipe from our cookbook “Cold Canning” is our first refrigerator ferment: There’s no vinegar, but we’re using a shortcut method, not standard fermentation, giving the jar a little bump toward true fermentation at room temperature before squirreling it away in the fridge for up to three weeks (do not freeze).

This way, we don’t push the limits of what cold canning can accomplish with pickles. In any event, sterilize the jar and don’t be tempted to make substitutions. Though, for a completely non-traditional take, you can swap out the thyme sprigs for other leafy herbs: tarragon, rosemary, dill, cilantro or parsley.

Use only distilled water for best results (since the chlorine in tap water or chemicals in well water can halt fermentation.)

Half-Sour Pickles

Makes: 7-9 pickles

Directions

DirectionsPut the garlic, coriander, mustard seeds, black peppercorns and bay leaves in one clean 2-quart jar or other container. Rinse the cucumbers with distilled water, gently scrubbing them with a new sponge or a wad of paper towels (without nicking the skins). Stuff the cucumbers and thyme sprigs into the jar. Whisk the 4 cups distilled water and salt in a bowl until the salt dissolves. Pour this brine over the cucumbers and aromatics, leaving about 1/2 inch head space. If the brine does not cover everything, make more in that same ratio by volume to fill the container. (Make sure no cucumber sticks out of the brine.) Cover or seal; set aside at room temperature for 12 to 16 hours. Refrigerate to steep until the cucumbers are crisp and starting to get sour, 5 to 6 days, before enjoying. (The longer the pickles sit in the brine, the saltier and more sour they’ll get.)

Ingredients

1 medium garlic clove, peeled and thinly sliced

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

2 dried bay leaves

1 3/4 pounds (or 7 to 9) medium Kirby or pickling cucumbers, each fairly thin and about 5 inches long

Distilled water for rinsing the cucumbers

2 fresh thyme sprigs

4 cups distilled water

1/4 cup kosher salt