You're doing fine. Everything sounds normal.

Carol

Agree. Sounds fine to me. You shouldn't be seeing much scum though with an airtight container unless there is alot of air left in the container.

Dave

Try putting a gallon-sized brine bag on top of the bucket, just to cover the surface - you don't even have to put the lid on tight and bother with the air lock that way (though I do put the lid on and snap it down most of the way around when I do mine). Never had problems with mold that way. Though 3 weeks sounds like they're pretty much ready.

Rinse them off and put them in fresh brine when they're done (are you canning or refrigerating?).

Thank you all for the confirmation.

ajsmama, I put a plate in the bucket over the cukes and weighed it down with a gallon zip-lock freezer bag filled with salt water to keep everything well under brine. Then snapped the lid on. Airlock inserts through a hole in lid. Not really a bother. I plan on canning with fresh brine, if for no other reason, because I don't like the cloudiness. I will do this within the next day or so since I too believe they are done.

Dave, do you think opening the bucket every few days and exposing to air is what caused the scum and mold? There was not much but, there was some. Would keeping them closed eliminate that from happening? I know it did with my Saurkraut but, I wasn't sure about the pickles, and I was afraid not to check them. Kraut was packed closer to the top of the bucket. Pickles had a lot more air space in bucket. Would that make a difference?

When canning, to the fresh brine, I plan on adding a little fresh dill, a garlic clove, and maybe some hot pepper flakes to each jar. Does anyone see that as a problem?

Again, Thank you all for your help.

Jay

Oops. One more question. I use and like the results of pickle crisp on fresh pack pickles. Will it work the same on these when canning? Thanks again.

Jay

I haven't used pickle crisp yet, but try putting the brine bag directly on the surface, covering the entire surface. If you fill the bucket close enough to the top the lid will just hold the bag down, or you can put the plate on top with some sort of (sterile) weight or spacer b4 you put the lid on. Having the brine bag totally covering the surface will keep the scum to practically nothing, and I haven't seen any mold at all when I've done this.

Oh, and I put the garlic and spices in the fermenting bucket. If you're asking if you can put more in each jar (with fresh brine) before canning, I wouldn't since the fresh brine wouldn't be acidic (assuming it's just salt water), though I've only refrigerated my fermented pickles when they're done (we eat them so quickly it's not worth canning them!). But does your recipe say anything about straining and boiling the used brine and possibly adding fresh dill and garlic to it since you've strained the "used" stuff out?

"or you can put the plate on top with some sort of (sterile) weight or spacer b4 you put the lid on."

That is pretty much what I have done. The bag was used as a weight to hold the plate and pickles under the brine. It was not large enough to cover the entire surface,so I used an airtight lid and airlock to create the seal to keep air and any other contaminants from reaching the brine.

I also put garlic and spices in the bucket. I used the recipe from the NCHFP site. It does say to strain and boil the brine. During the fermenting process the smell and appearance of the brine became unappealing to me. So while waiting for my ferment to finish I did some further research and found this document, http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/B2267.PDF, from the University of Wisconsin. It says "Some people dislike the flavor and
cloudiness of the fermentation brine, and
prefer to prepare fresh brine for canning.
To make fresh brine:
Add 1âÂÂ2 cup salt and 1 quart vinegar (5%
acetic acid) to 1 gallon water.Heat to
boiling, and simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Pack the fermented pickles and some
of the dill into clean, hot quart jars.Do
not pack too tightly. Add a fresh garlic
clove to each jar, if desired. Cover with
hot brine, leaving 1âÂÂ2-inch headspace.
Remove bubbles with a rubber
spatula.Wipe jar rims with a clean,
damp cloth.
8. Cap jars with pretreated lids.
Adjust lids.
9. Process in a boiling water canner: 10
minutes for pints, 15 minutes for quarts.

I thought this would be the answer to my problem. If I can't add fresh spices to the new brine i'm afraid it would leech out the flavor that the ferment created. Maybe this is where I am wrong. What do you think? If I filter and boil the old brine will it make it clear?

If you haven't read the above document and can find the time I thought it was a good read with lots of info.

Thanks

Jay

I have made my first batch of fermented cucumbers. I've searched the forums and found lots of information, but I'd just like to check if what I am doing is correct as I've no experience of fermenting.

I followed Linda Zeidrich's mustardy dill pickles from Joy of Pickling (p49; I can type it out if required), because that was the amount of cucumbers I had! I left out the mustard seeds, horseradish and onion so they are basically plain dills. The brine has 3tbsp salt per quart water, no vinegar. I meticulously weighed the plain sea salt as we can't get pickling salt in the UK.

I am on day 16. Linda says they should be ready at between 2 & 4 weeks. The kitchen is average room temp, probably around 65-70. It's a glazed earthenware crock so hard to see, but I think the bubbles stopped on day 14. The brine is cloudy. The pickles (I cut a big one) are olive throughout, but a mix of translucent with some opaque patches. I thought the taste was very salty but not particularly sour, with only a slight dill flavour.

Are they ready??

If so, I don't like the taste of the brine. I know both Readinglady (Carol) and Digdirt (Dave) make a new brine to finish. Carol, I found your actual recipe on another thread, thank you. Dave - do you use the same mix as for fermentation in the original recipe? Because if so, I liked the brine taste when it was fresh.

Linda Z says I can add extra garlic and spices before refrigeration. I know she is very reliable, but I'm worried about adding garlic once fermentation has stopped? I am planning on keeping these in the fridge as there is only a small batch.

Advice and reassurance will be much appreciated. Linda Z is very blase about fermenting, saying you hardly need a recipe, and on here I've read to go by personal taste - but this is taking me out of my comfort zone for a first timer!

Thank you so much.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pickling cucumbers thread with link to finishing brine

Sorry, I made an error above. Linda Z says they should be ready in 2-3 weeks, not 2-4.

Anybody have any advice for me on this, please?

Thanks.

How quickly do you think you'll eat them? I have the older version of the book so I think it's the recipe on page 50 of mine ;-)

To clarify, she says you can add fresh dill (heads), mustard (seeds - not an issue) or horseradish (fresh). Garlic is not used in this recipe. But if you want to add finely chopped garlic, I don't see any difference between that and horseradish. Not sure how much garlic flavor the pickles will pick up, so I recommend doing what she said for reusing the brine (even if you prefer to make it fresh) - boil it, I'd add the garlic to it, then let it cool and pour it over the (drained) pickles to store in fridge.

By now you shouldn't have any opaque patches inside the pickles.

If you have any questions, you could always email Linda through her blog - she doesn't always check this forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: A Gardener's Table

Are yours ready? Probably, if they taste fine to you. That is the ultimate test - the taste. If you want them more sour then they need to go longer.

I use a fresh brine if I am going to can and process them but if they are just going into the fridge for storage a fresh brine isn't necessary - optional but not required - so it is your choice.

You can drain them, make up a fresh brine using 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt per quart of water, pour it over them and put them in the fridge. They will continue to ferment a smidge more. OR you can just put them in the fridge as is and let them continue to ferment more (remove any scum that forms) until they get tot he taste you want and then drain them. Either way you don't drink the brine so don't worry about its taste, just the taste of the pickles.

Dave

Thanks for the help, Dave and Ajsmama, much appreciated.

Ajsmama, my thinking was the same about the garlic/horseradish - it does say in Joy of Pickling that there is more flexibility with fermentation, so I figured it was OK. There are other recipes with cucumber that have the same % brine and garlic in them.

It's a good idea about emailing Linda, I could do that in future, if needed.

Many thanks both, once again.

Oh, to clarify, I meant to boil the garlic in the brine, that will get more of the flavor in (as well as killing any nasties).

Thank you ajsmama, I'll try that suggestion re the garlic.

Realised I didn't answer your question - they won't last all that long, a couple of months max, as there is only a 4lb batch. I was planning to keep in the refrigerator.

If there are opaque patches still (I'm going to cut one again today, they have now had 3 weeks) should I leave them to ferment longer?

Thank you.

Yes. As Dave said, they should continue to ferment in the fridge, but it will be slower. IMO, they will keep longer if you change the brine (or at least skim and boil it) but I haven't tested that.

But at 3 weeks they should be done unless they're huge, or the room was cool (which you said it wasn't). Just cut them into spears (easier to eat that way) to check and they'll finish more quickly if they're not done yet.

I guess it's probably cooler at night, we've had sunny days and cold nights in the past week. But I think I'll call them done and put them in the fridge today. They were only opaque patches in one of the two I cut, a week ago now. I'll make new brine, and change the aromatics, it seems better to do that.

BTW they're gherkins, varying sizes, the largest are about 5" long and an inch wide.

I expect I'll have a lot more confidence next time, thanks so much for your help and advice.

Just read your message again, sorry missed the suggestion re cutting into spears. Great idea. I'll do that today, then either put them back for longer room temp or finish. Thanks.

Oh, if they're only an inch diameter I wouldn't bother. I'm sure they're done. I was thinking you may have had some twice that girth!