“It’s Apple Thyme!” Pickle Recipe

Written by Danny Published on October 12, 2018 in Cucumber Pickles

This is a recipe for cucumbers fermented with apples. You’ll end up with savory, delicious cucumber and apple pickles which mildly flavor each other. These are inspired by Hungarian style pickle recipes.

A gallon of apple thyme pickles ready to start fermenting

This recipe is for a quart of pickles but you can adjust according to the size of your container. These follow the lead of Hungarian style pickles.

Ingredients

~4-5 small firm cucumbers (remove blossom end)

~3.5% salt brine (about 1 TBSP salt mixed into 2 cups water)

4 sprigs dill

6-8 sprigs thyme (any variety)

2 cloves garlic, quartered

1/2 apple, seeded and sliced* (featured picture uses Granny Smith)

1/2 tsp mustard seed

1/2 tsp peppercorns

* For a stronger apple flavor, you may cube the apple (about 1/2″ per side), and even add a 2-3 TBS of apple juice or cider to your brine. If using cubed apple, use of a fermenting weight is even further recommended to avoid them coming into contact with surface air. You may also add a leaf to the top such as grape leaf, raspberry, oak, horseradish, or other leaf with high tannin concentration which helps maintain crispness, before applying the weight.

Optional add-ons

(These are suggested, but if you don’t have all or some of these items, the flavor profile won’t change dramatically)

2 cloves, coarsely crushed
4-5 juniper berries
finger of ginger, thinly sliced
4-5 allspice berries, coarsely crushed

Instructions

1.) Fill a clean saucepan with two cups of filtered or non-chlorinated water.

2.) Coarsely grind all the spices

3.) Add the salt and all the spices to the water.

4.) Warm and stir the water until the salt dissolves. Allow brine to cool to room temperature.

5.) Place cucumbers in the jar, followed by the garlic, and top with the apples and herbs (dill and thyme)

6.) Add the brine until there is about 3” of headspace, then add the weight and airlock if applicable. Or, consider filling a small plastic bag with some extra brine to place on top in the absence of a weight. There will now only be about 1” of headspace remaining. If no weight is available, leave about 2” headspace.

Notes:

Recommended length is 5-6 days; 7 for full sours.