Fermented dill pickle calculator
Polish ogórki kiszone: cucumbers under a 3% brine with dill, garlic and horseradish, two to three weeks to a full sour.
Polish fermented cucumbers, ogórki kiszone, are counted from the brine: salt as a percentage of the water, and roughly a kilo of small cucumbers per litre of it. Dill with its umbels, garlic and horseradish go into the jars, and the lactic bacteria do the rest in two to three weeks.
How it works
Salt per litre
AniaGotuje boils 2 litres of water with 4 flat tablespoons of rock salt for 2 kg of cucumbers: two flat tablespoons per litre, about 30 g, so 3%. Kwestia Smaku says one heaped tablespoon per litre and does not weigh it. For half-sours eaten within the week one tablespoon per litre (about 15 g, 1.5%) is enough, and that is the bottom of the salt band.
Packing the jars
Small, firm field cucumbers, washed, packed upright and tight into 1 l jars with 2–3 cloves of garlic, a piece of horseradish root (about 10 cm per 2 kg) and a stalk of dill with its flower head; blackcurrant, cherry or oak leaves if you have them. Pour the brine, hot or fully cooled, AniaGotuje sees no difference after fermenting, until it covers the cucumbers. About half a litre of brine fills a 1 l jar of cucumbers.
Three days warm, then the pantry
Lids screwed tight, three days at around 20 °C, then a cool pantry or cellar. Ready in about two weeks, three at most; the lids seal on their own within two to three days. No pasteurising.
Sources & methodology
Every percentage in this calculator traces to the published sources below — nothing is invented. Where respected sources disagree, the default sits inside the documented range.
- AniaGotuje — ogórki kiszone — The anchor: 2 kg of small cucumbers / 2 l of boiling water / 4 flat tablespoons of rock salt — “about 30 g per litre” (3%), four 1 l jars, ready in two to three weeks.
- AniaGotuje — ogórki małosolne — The bottom of the salt band: one tablespoon per litre (about 15 g, 1.5%) for half-sours eaten within the week.
- Kwestia Smaku — ogórki kiszone — The same recipe stated per jar: a heaped tablespoon of pickling salt per litre of water, 2–3 cloves of garlic, horseradish and a dill stalk in each 1 l jar, about half a litre of brine per jar.
- USDA National Center for Home Food Preservation — Dill Pickles (fermented) — The US reference, a far saltier brine: half a cup of salt and a quarter cup of vinegar to 8 cups of water per gallon of cucumbers, 3–4 weeks at 70–75 °F.
FAQ
Which salt?
Non-iodised rock salt for preserving. AniaGotuje notes that iodised salt ferments too, but rock salt is what every Polish source names.
Tap water?
Filtered or boiled. Boiling it also dissolves the salt cleanly.
Cucumbers above the brine?
Top up with fresh brine at the same ratio. Anything that stays out of the brine goes soft or mouldy.
How does this compare to American dill pickles?
The USDA recipe is far saltier, half a cup of salt and a quarter cup of 5% vinegar to 8 cups of water per gallon of cucumbers, and ferments 3–4 weeks at 70–75 °F. Polish pickles skip the vinegar entirely.