Salt brine pickles HELP!!!
 

I did up 5 qts of salt brine pickles after reading several sites about how to do it. They seem alright and have been fermenting for since July 25. 1 of the five really sends off gas bubbles, 10 times more than the other 4 when I loosen the lids to let the pressure escape. Wondering if that one is bad? Or is that the only one fermenting properly. I have tasted from the one that doesn't give off much gas several times, and they seemed all right, just not much flavor yet. Afraid to taste from the one that rages with gas bubbles when the seal is cracked. Anyone have experience with lacto fermenting dill chips. The jars have a leaf of cabbage on top to keep the cukes submerged, then a lid and ring to make it anerobic, per instructions. Help!!!

Hmm, this type of fermenting process will release some gas for sure.
However cans are never actually tightened and usually those cukes will be ready in 24 hrs to eat.
We used to do large barrels of it but those are done in the cellar and again while I might use large plate to keep weight down it does not have lid.
Must be different recipes recipes here. I used to do lots of it since childhood.

I lacto ferment tons of pickles each year. The amount of bubbling can vary depending on the sugar content of each batch of cucumbers, the size shape they are cut into (more or less surface area), the amount of salt in your brine, the temperature in your house, etc, etc. Bubbling of any kind is a good sign and means the correct type of bacteria are present in your batch. Unless you see green, blue, black or pink mold on the surface of your ferment, everything should be fine (even a little white film is usually just harmless Kham yeast). Best of luck, fermented pickles are the best!

I have some cucumbers I would like to try this on.
Is there a place I can go to get good information.
The places I looked were full of miss information from one site to the next.
All I have to do this with is stainless steel containers.

Worth

mmm, I would use glass or enameled pot/bucket. Most sites have no mentioning of keeping cukes in a cold water first and using cool brine which is what takes to make them crunchy and not mushy. Thats all.
So you get cukes, and only pickling type- cut the bottoms and keep in big bowl of cold water for couple of hours at least.
Then put some dill- top umbrella, garlic, horseradish leaves, cherry leaves, black currant leaves- optional, round black pepper is optional too. Wash and put in the container of your choice some spices on the bottom, tightly pack cukes and add some layers of spices again.
Take cold water and dilute 1 liter to 2 tbsp pickling salt- salt has to be free from iodine and anti caking agents.
Pour it in, cover with plate, put something heavy on it so pickles are all submerged. Ready to eat next day and they are lightly salted. In cool place it will keep for weeks and weeks.
If wanted, one can repack in about 3 days pickles in canning jars with same spices, heat to boiling temps same old brine and pour it into into cans and tighten the lids. It will keep for months.
Sorry, pickles absolutely can not be put into canning water bath for any length of time as they will get mushy and loose crunchiness.

[QUOTE=Lindalana;496009]mmm, I would use glass or enameled pot/bucket. Most sites have no mentioning of keeping cukes in a cold water first and using cool brine which is what takes to make them crunchy and not mushy. Thats all.
So you get cukes, and only pickling type- cut the bottoms and keep in big bowl of cold water for couple of hours at least.
Then put some dill- top umbrella, garlic, horseradish leaves, cherry leaves, black currant leaves- optional, round black pepper is optional too. Wash and put in the container of your choice some spices on the bottom, tightly pack cukes and add some layers of spices again.
Take cold water and dilute 1 liter to 2 tbsp pickling salt- salt has to be free from iodine and anti caking agents.
Pour it in, cover with plate, put something heavy on it so pickles are all submerged. Ready to eat next day and they are lightly salted. In cool place it will keep for weeks and weeks.
If wanted, one can repack in about 3 days pickles in canning jars with same spices, heat to boiling temps same old brine and pour it into into cans and tighten the lids. It will keep for months.
Sorry, pickles absolutely can not be put into canning water bath for any length of time as they will get mushy and loose crunchiness.[/QUOTE]

Well I did some digging and found out you could do it in quality stainless and that is what I have.

So I did it.

I also read that if you are going to hot water bath to not let the temps get above 180 degrees.

For me if the pickles turn out okay I am going to pour the hot brine over them, let seal and refrigerate.

I will be getting a fermenting crock though.:yes:

Worth

I read several sites, this is pretty much the one I followed. [URL]http://www.simplebites.net/make-old-fashioned-brine-fermented-pickles-like-your-great-grandmother/[/URL],
2 Tblsp kosher salt per qt of water, and brine for at least 10 days. They taste all right, and I ate some from the really bubbly one.. But the flavor was not as good as I'd hoped. Gonna let them keep going a bit longer.

I started a batch of sauerkraut 3 weeks ago, same kind of process. Use a bag of salt water to seal it. It is really tart and good. Here's a link to it. [URL]http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/B2087.pdf[/URL]

This is a great one, but the pickles are not as good.

Here's one from Mother Earth News. It's a universal fermented pickle recipe. What do you guys think? I'd like to try it!

[url]http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/fermenting/fermenting-revolution-the-universal-fermented-pickle-recipe-zbcz1507.aspx[/url]

50 grams of salt to 1 liter of water (both preferably as pure as possible), herbs (old dill plants, whole, garlic, maybe some hot pepper).
You can boil the salty water first and then add it hot to the jar full with the cucumbers. It's important requirement if you want them to keep well (like overwinter). They do not get mushy because of it.
The water used, the cucumbers, temperature, humidity and who knows what else will decide how well it keeps in the end and the exact taste. If you want to overwinter make them as late as possible in the autumn, and put them in the cellar after about 3-5 days (they will ferment much slower).

Sounds like a perfect recipe
 

Lindalana's recipe sounds perfect. I love half sour pickles that are flavorful, not too salty and this recipe will do just that. I would try both Motherearthnews universal recipe and Lindalana's in small batches and see what I like better. I usually just make salty water, when it tastes fine, not too salty and salty enough without measuring the amount of salt (which is probably wrong) and use that for the brine, and nearly same spices except I don't have any black currant leaves, cause I live in NJ where it's against the law to grow them. A large glass jar works fine. Thanks for the great cold water and brine tip too, never tried that before! Also heating the brine before storing in the fridge will destroy all beneficial bacteria if anyone cares about that.
Thank you for the great detailed recipe Lindalana! :worthy:

[QUOTE=Lindalana;496009]mmm, I would use glass or enameled pot/bucket. Most sites have no mentioning of keeping cukes in a cold water first and using cool brine which is what takes to make them crunchy and not mushy. Thats all.
So you get cukes, and only pickling type- cut the bottoms and keep in big bowl of cold water for couple of hours at least.
Then put some dill- top umbrella, garlic, horseradish leaves, cherry leaves, black currant leaves- optional, round black pepper is optional too. Wash and put in the container of your choice some spices on the bottom, tightly pack cukes and add some layers of spices again.
Take cold water and dilute 1 liter to 2 tbsp pickling salt- salt has to be free from iodine and anti caking agents.
Pour it in, cover with plate, put something heavy on it so pickles are all submerged. Ready to eat next day and they are lightly salted. In cool place it will keep for weeks and weeks.
If wanted, one can repack in about 3 days pickles in canning jars with same spices, heat to boiling temps same old brine and pour it into into cans and tighten the lids. It will keep for months.
Sorry, pickles absolutely can not be put into canning water bath for any length of time as they will get mushy and loose crunchiness.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, everyone, for posting your links and recipes. They're better info
than what I found on the web or that came with the 2 fermenting jars I
purchased! Darlene

[QUOTE=Worth1;496017]Well I did some digging and found out you could do it in quality stainless and that is what I have.

So I did it.

I also read that if you are going to hot water bath to not let the temps get above 180 degrees.

For me if the pickles turn out okay I am going to pour the hot brine over them, let seal and refrigerate.

I will be getting a fermenting crock though.:yes:

Worth[/QUOTE]

Good for you Worth! You are correct, as long as you have quality stainless steel you are fine. Many artisinal pickle producers use stainless steel fermenters.

A thought about heating fermented pickles...it may actually cause them to spoil faster unless you are going to fully HWB can them. By heating the brine you will be killing off much of the bacteria that is protecting your cukes. If the PH in your brine has not been sufficiently lowered you could develop spoilage and off flavors/textures.

Personally I want to keep the good bugs (for probiotic reasons...I have been off my acid reflux meds for over a year!) and I also like the option of preserving at cool room temp until I am ready to eat.

I let the pickles ferment until all bubbling stops, then I change out my airlock for a regular lid and keep them in my cool dark pantry. I find that the flavors mellow out and blend better over time. I do keep the current jar we are eating from in our fridge because I prefer my pickles cold and crisp!

Most important steps by far for crisp pickles are to trim off the blossom end of your cukes before you ferment (enzymes there cause mushy results) and to seek out some high tannin leaves (horseradish, black current, cherry, oak, etc). You will be amazed at the difference in your finished product.

I have had jars in my pantry for over 8 months that suffered no loss of texture or flavor.

For resources, I suggest the book Fermented Vegetables by Kristen and Christopher Shockey as well as any books or website info from Sandor Katz.

Sorry for the long pickle post...they are obviously something very near and dear to my heart!:twisted:

[QUOTE]Most important steps by far for crisp pickles are to trim off the blossom end of your cukes before you ferment (enzymes there cause mushy results) and to seek out some high tannin leaves (horseradish, black current, cherry, oak, etc). You will be amazed at the difference in your finished product.[/QUOTE]I remember my mom using grape leaves, not sure where she got them -- we've got tons of wild grapes here, would those do? How many leaves per a gallon jar?

[QUOTE=BucksCountyGirl;496230]Good for you Worth! You are correct, as long as you have quality stainless steel you are fine. Many artisinal pickle producers use stainless steel fermenters.

A thought about heating fermented pickles...it may actually cause them to spoil faster unless you are going to fully HWB can them. By heating the brine you will be killing off much of the bacteria that is protecting your cukes. If the PH in your brine has not been sufficiently lowered you could develop spoilage and off flavors/textures.

Personally I want to keep the good bugs (for probiotic reasons...I have been off my acid reflux meds for over a year!) and I also like the option of preserving at cool room temp until I am ready to eat.

I let the pickles ferment until all bubbling stops, then I change out my airlock for a regular lid and keep them in my cool dark pantry. I find that the flavors mellow out and blend better over time. I do keep the current jar we are eating from in our fridge because I prefer my pickles cold and crisp!

Most important steps by far for crisp pickles are to trim off the blossom end of your cukes before you ferment (enzymes there cause mushy results) and to seek out some high tannin leaves (horseradish, black current, cherry, oak, etc). You will be amazed at the difference in your finished product.

I have had jars in my pantry for over 8 months that suffered no loss of texture or flavor.

For resources, I suggest the book Fermented Vegetables by Kristen and Christopher Shockey as well as any books or website info from Sandor Katz.

Sorry for the long pickle post...they are obviously something very near and dear to my heart!:twisted:[/QUOTE]

Thanks.

I have studied stainless for quite some time and there is a lot of miss information about it.

What I have is 1810 stainless.
1810 is not magnetic but can be a little under work hardening.
The one small pot I do have that is magnetic doesn't have 1810 stamped on it.

This is not to say that the bottoms aren't magnetic as they are try clad and that part is so they will work on an induction cook top.

I dont even know why I bothered I have been brining meat in them for a long time.:lol:

Worth