Cool, crunchy, home-made pickles. Is there anything better on a hot summer afternoon? I don’t think so. And neither did Thomas Jefferson – and he wrote the constitution!

He also wrote this about pickles:

“On a hot day in Virginia, I know of nothing more comforting than a fine spiced pickle, brought up trout-like from the sparkling depths of that aromatic jar below stairs in Aunt Sally's cellar.”

I don’t know what recipe Aunt Sally was using, but there’s probably about a million-and-a-half ways to make pickles, and there’s really no wrong way to make pickles, as long as you do it right.

Here’s how I do it:

I start with a clean half-gallon mason jar, into which I put a handful of washed oak leaves, right off the tree in the backyard. Sounds like a weird place to start for pickles, but, trust me, don’t skip this step.

Oak leaves contain tannins. Very simply, tannins are chemical compounds in the leaves that will make your pickles crunchy. Seriously, don’t skip this step. Nobody likes soggy pickles. If you have no oak leaves, you could also use horseradish leaves or grape leaves.

Then put in some sliced onions, lots of dill, and a handful of garlic gloves. And then sprinkle in some spices. I like to use mustard seed and red pepper flakes, but feel free to experiment.

As Jimmy Smith from the Texas-based band The Gourds sings in his song about making pickles, “Let your intuition be your guide.”

For me, making pickles is very loose, and every batch I make comes out slightly different.

OK, so after you have your oak leaves, onions, garlic, dill and spices in, fill the rest of the jar with cucumbers. The exact amount will vary every time, depending on the size of cucumbers you have on hand.

Don’t fill it all the way. You need to save room at the top for a weight to hold everything down. I use a rock. It’s my pickling rock. I’ve had it for years, and it fits perfectly into the a wide-mouth mason jar.

So once your cukes are in and your rock is on top, now it’s time to make the brine. I like to use about a 4 to 4.5% salinity brine. You can look up the salt-to-water ratio up on the internet if you want to have exact measurements. But basically, in a separate pitcher, I dissolve about 2.5 ounces of sea salt into a half gallon of water. This is more brine than you’ll need for the half-gallon jar, so you’ll have a little bit left over (which I encourage you to pickle something else in, like maybe cauliflower).

Taste the brine. It should remind you of the ocean and taste like the sea.

Ok, so you’ve made your brine, and now you’re going to pour it into the jar with your cukes. Fill it all the up so everything is submerged, including the rock.

The journey you are embarking on here is one of fermentation. Humans have been fermenting foods for almost as long as there have been people. It’s not rocket science, but it is miraculous. I wish I could tell you more about the science behind the process, but here’s the thing, you don’t need to understand the microbiological processes of how it works to put the power of fermentation to use for you and your family.

Sandor Katz, a modern-day fermentation guru and author of the book Wild Fermentation, said it himself during a TED talk, “You don’t need to know about biology or microorganisms in order to practice fermentation.”

But what you do need to know here is that the fermentation process will only take place in an anaerobic environment – that means no air. It all happens in the brine. That’s why you need a rock or some kind of weight to hold everything down under the surface of the brine.

OK, so you’ve poured your brine into the jar. Put a lid on it, but poke a few holes in the lid to let everything breathe a little bit. The fermentation process will off-gas and you don’t want that gas to build up in the jar, so having a few holes in the lid will alleviate the pressure.

And then set the whole jar in a cool, dark, out-of-the-way place for a week. Not too cool, but not too hot either. The sweet spot is somewhere between 65 and 70 degrees. I put mine in the basement stairwell.

After the week is up, move it to the fridge for a few more days. After about three days in the fridge, take out the jar, remove the rock, and fish out your first pickle.

Give it a try. It will not taste like a store-bought pickle. It might be a little sour. It might smell weird. But it is safe to eat and is good for you.

If it still tastes more like a cucumber than a pickle, that just means it needs to ferment a little longer, so put the rock back on top of everything and stick it back in the fridge for a few more days.

If your pickles don’t come out right the first time, do not be discouraged. Please keep trying. You’ll get it, I promise. Once you master the art of pickles, try to ferment something else. Pickled carrots are good, so are pickled onions. You can pretty much pickle anything you want to. My daughter especially loves pickled cauliflower. I myself love a good sauerkraut. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

Put oak leaves, onions, dill, garlic and spices in a clean half-gallon mason jar.

Add cucumbers, filling the jar about ¾ of the way.

Place a rock or some kind of food-safe weight on top of vegetable matter.

In a separate vessel, dissolve the salt in the water by stirring continuously for several minutes.

Pour brine into mason jar, all the way to the top, covering the weight.

Poke a few holes in a mason jar lid and screw onto jar.

Set filled jar in a cool, dark, out-of-the-way place for a week.

Remove to refrigerator for a few more days, after which time, start tasting your pickles.

A new major at the University of Maryland that will teach the specific science of fermentation to a new generation of makers and entrepreneurs.

Fermentation expert Sandor Katz walks us through a basic sauerkraut recipe.

Eric Hurlock is digital editor at Lancaster Farming and host of the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast. He can be reached at (717) 721-4462 or ehurlock@lancasterfarming.com

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