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Real Pickles

Northeast Grown, 100% organic, fermented & raw pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, kvass, and hot sauce

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Home / Fermentation / Fermentation Process

Fermentation Process

We use lactic acid fermentation to make our Real Pickles products (also known as lacto-fermentation or natural fermentation). It is the original pickling method and has been an essential part of healthy human diets throughout the world for thousands of years. In Asia, consumption of fermented pickles dates back at least to the 3rd Century B.C.E., when the Great Wall of China was under construction. In Europe, sauerkraut is known to have been an important food among the ancient Romans.

Today, Real Pickles is one of a growing number of businesses in the United States producing raw (unpasteurized) and fermented pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, and other vegetables. This traditional pickling process went out of favor with the advent of industrial food production. Modern pickling methods, including use of vinegar (usually in place of fermentation) and pasteurization, produce a uniform, shelf stable product suitable to the needs of the large food corporations. Unfortunately, modern pickles do not offer the authentic flavor or the probiotic and health-promoting qualities of traditional pickles.

How it works

Many studies show that including raw fermented foods in our diet can improve health from gut to brain.
Read more about Health Benefits

Lactic acid fermentation relies on beneficial cultures – similar to those used to make yogurt or sourdough bread – to break down natural sugars in the vegetables and produce a variety of healthful substances, primarily lactic acid.

The process begins with fresh, nutrient-rich vegetables, naturally bearing lactic acid cultures on their surfaces (making starter cultures or inoculants unnecessary). The produce is washed, chopped or sliced as needed, and mixed with sea salt. The salt acts to draw out juices, preserve the vegetables while the fermentation gets started, and regulate the fermentation process itself. The mixture is packed into air-tight fermentation vessels (jars, crocks, or barrels) and placed in a warm spot (65-80 deg F).

Cucumbers undergo a relatively short fermentation, while cabbages may take several months to yield finished sauerkraut. During this time, cultures transform the fresh vegetables into pickles by converting sugars to lactic acid, acetic acid, carbon dioxide, and other beneficial substances. It is the lactic acid that is primarily responsible for preserving the vegetables, as well as creating the wonderful flavor and aroma of traditional pickles.

Length of fermentation depends on many factors, including temperature, moisture of the raw vegetable, amount of salt used, and thickness of the cut.  We taste every batch during fermentation to determine when it tastes just right!  Once finished, the ferments are stored under refrigeration to slow the fermentation, where they will remain preserved for two years or more.

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These are REAL pickles: naturally fermented withou These are REAL pickles: naturally fermented without vinegar. Organic and Northeast grown.  #ReelPickles 
#PackedWithAMission #RealPickles #organic #northeastgrown #pickles #fermented #reels
Thanks for featuring us in this AMAZING raw salad Thanks for featuring us in this AMAZING raw salad @perfectfoodsinc ! 

Repost @perfectfoodsinc 
BEST Raw Vegan Salad You’ll Ever Have👇

This salad is Day 1 of our raw vegan reset cleanse. Full recipes for the dressing and faux tuna and the rest of the week’s delicious recipes can be found in our cleanse 👉 link in bio to set up a free consultation.

Ingredients:
🌱 4 oz @perfectfoodsinc Sunflower Microgreens (chopped)
🌱 4 oz @perfectfoodsinc Pea Microgreens (chopped)
🥕 Carrots
🥬 Romaine Lettuce & Celery
🌞 Sunflower Faux Tuna
✨ @realpickles Sauerkraut
🥕 Carrot Ginger Dressing
🎃 Topped with pumpkin seeds and mung bean sprouts

Comment below ME if you are looking to lose weight, reduce inflammation, improve gut health, increase energy levels or just overall level up and improve your health and want a FREE health consultation to see if our cleanse is for you👇👇

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We are thrilled to introduce you all to TWO MORE m We are thrilled to introduce you all to TWO MORE member-owners of our co-op, Amy Laprade and Victor Signore! As a worker co-operative, Real Pickles is preserving our strong social mission, empowering our staff to direct the future of our business, and creating good local jobs with shared profits. 

Amy is part of our production team and our shipping and distribution team. Amy says “what excites me the most about becoming a worker owner at Real Pickles is the opportunity to build alliances with like-minded people, which can help shape the kind of community I wish to live in.” When Amy is not packing your orders and making ferments she likes to spend her time writing, doing hot yoga and spending quality time with her partner Geoff and their cat, Jack. 

Victor is the Real Pickles Vegetable Coordinator. He is responsible for maintaining our relationships with our farmers, helping to plan our starting season, ordering vegetables and so much more! He says that he is excited to be a part of something that is having a positive effect in supporting our local agriculture, local economy and our community. “Being a worker-owner means that I can help shape the future of Real Pickles and what our next steps may be as we face issues, such as climate change.” Victor is a musician, a visual artist and lives nearby with his partner, Mere and their sweet kitty Olalla.

We are so excited that our co-operative is expanding to include these excellent folks! Welcome Victor and Amy!

#workercooperative #workerowned #RealPickles #PackedWithAMission
Real Pickles is hiring a production assistant! Lin Real Pickles is hiring a production assistant! Link in bio for details! 

Real Pickles is a worker-owned co-operative in Greenfield, MA, producing organic fermented vegetables from Northeast-grown produce.  Our mission is to promote human and ecological health by providing people with delicious, nourishing food and by working toward a regional, organic food system in the Northeast.  As a co-op, each worker has the opportunity to become an owner of the business and participate in shaping its future.  We are strongly committed to creating good jobs that support the dignity of all workers in an equitable and inclusive workplace. 
#workercoops #workerowned #coop
The time has come! Organic Dill Pickles are back f The time has come! Organic Dill Pickles are back for the season! Thank you to our farmers for such an abundant and beautiful start to the cucumber harvests! Fresh batches of pickles are making their way to your stores in the Northeast! Enjoy! 

*check out our store locator on our website. Link in bio.

#RealPickles #DillPickles #organic #lactofermentation #NortheastGrown #coop 

@atlasfarm @redfirefarm
@leafandbeanfarm on Ask A Sista Farmer series this @leafandbeanfarm on Ask A Sista Farmer series this Friday at 4pm on Instagram Live @soulfirefarm - See you there! 

Repost from @soulfirefarm
•
See you this Friday at 4 PM for Ask a Sista Farmer!

Interested in making the jump from urban living to rural homesteading? Then join us for ASK A SISTA FARMER - EPISODE #38

On Friday, July 1 at 4 PM ET we are joined by Nivek Anderson-Brown of Leaf and Bean Farm, a homesteader and micro vegetable farmer from Virginia. Nivek will teach us the ins and outs of homesteading for self-sufficiency, and talk about the journey from urban to rural life. 

Learn more and follow @Leafandbeanfarm and Leafandbean.farm 

***
Ask a Sista Farmer, FIRST Fridays, 4:00-4:40 Eastern
On Instagram Live @soulfirefarm 
Past Episodes www.soulfirefarm.org/ask-a-sista-farmer 
Apply to be a presenter here https://bit.ly/AASFapp 

Are you ready to grow your own food and medicine for self-reliance and community resilience? First Fridays, experienced Black womxn* farmers answer your chat questions about gardening, livestock, agroforestry, plant medicine, business operations, and food preservation. At the end of the show we have a GIVEAWAY to the person who wins our quiz. To free ourselves we must feed ourselves!

Ask A Sista Farmer centers the voices of Black, Indigenous, People-of-Color, Queer, Trans*, Disabled, Immigrant, and Poor communities. Everyone is welcome to watch and listen, but please make space for centered folks to ask questions and share. Thank you. 

Sista and womxn includes trans* and nonbinary folks

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311 Wells St
Greenfield, MA 01301
(413) 774-2600
info@realpickles.com

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