Finally good Dill Pickles

Kimchi, pickles, sauerkraut, and more!

Moderator: Christopher Weeks

Finally good Dill Pickles

Postby blk on Sun Mar 06, 2016 1:35 pm

I have been successfully fermenting cabbage, carrots, and beets for many years. Tried to ferment dill pickles twice last year and blew it both times. Once I blew off 6 two quart ferments of dill pickles. It upset me due to the waste of food. What I finally realized was I was using too much salt. I would fill the jars with dill, garlic and cucumbers and then add six table spoons of salt and fill with filtered water. Wrong!!
After reading some of you on this board, it finally dawned on me to mix 1-1/2 to three tablespoons of sea salt in one quart of filtered water then add that water to the jar stuffed with pickles. Walla! Fermentation in one day and wonderful pickles ten days later. I was obviously using too much salt and killing the fermentation in my first two attempts. At least that is what I think. Any other thoughts? I left everything else exactly the same.
blk
 
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri May 08, 2015 12:01 pm

Re: Finally good Dill Pickles

Postby Christopher Weeks on Mon Mar 07, 2016 8:28 am

Sounds legit.

What was the nature of the failure? I know that some commercial pickle fermenters use what seems excessively saline brine but then package the pickles in water and then it evens out or something.
Christopher Weeks
Nuka Ninja
 
Posts: 2602
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 3:59 pm
Location: Carlton County, MN

Re: Finally good Dill Pickles

Postby blk on Tue Mar 08, 2016 12:28 pm

Good question Chris. I read somewhere (I think on this forum) that way too much salt can actually prevent fermentation from starting. What I did with 6 two quart jars of pickles was to stuff the cucumbers in the jars, THEN add 6 table spoons of salt to the jar, then filled with filtered water. I use glass canning jars with a plastic top/gum rubber seal and a fermentation lock. I never got a single bubble in the fermentation locks nor did I see any indication of any kind of gas pressure in the vessels via a difference of level in the water in the air locks. They sat for four weeks and I opened one and it smelled a little "different" than any ferments I had made. I can usually smell the lactic acid when present. There was a whitish kind of thread like slime growing in the one I opened and all other five had it also upon inspection. I took a little taste of one pickle and it was brutal bad tasting. I spit it out and tossed all 12 quarts of ferments. I also tested the brine with litmus paper which I often do just to assure acidity and it did not register acidic like good ferments have always done. I suspect I killed any chance of fermentation and then a mold or some sort of bad bacteria took over. Only fermentation I have ever lost. I have been fermenting for a long time. I love the probiotics due to my severe diverticulitis and have not has a bad bout of it since I have been eating the home fermented stuff. At least ten years. Your thoughts on the possibility of too much salt?
blk
 
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri May 08, 2015 12:01 pm

Re: Finally good Dill Pickles

Postby Christopher Weeks on Tue Mar 08, 2016 12:55 pm

Interesting. Makes me want to put up a jar with that much salt just to see what happens over a greater time.
Christopher Weeks
Nuka Ninja
 
Posts: 2602
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 3:59 pm
Location: Carlton County, MN

Re: Finally good Dill Pickles

Postby NickD on Wed Mar 16, 2016 9:36 pm

Glad to read this post. I'm new to fermenting veggies, and have been loving it so far, but still haven't tried cukes. I'm excited to do so when they come into season, but have read that people use a stronger brine for them for some reason... Which doesn't make sense to me! Glad to hear others affirm my skepticism.

Seems to me that the amount of salt, for any ferment, should always coincide with the size of the jar, right?
NickD
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2016 10:26 am

Re: Finally good Dill Pickles

Postby Christopher Weeks on Thu Mar 17, 2016 7:24 am

I use three tablespoons of salt per quart of water when I'm fermenting anything in brine.
Christopher Weeks
Nuka Ninja
 
Posts: 2602
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 3:59 pm
Location: Carlton County, MN

Re: Finally good Dill Pickles

Postby Tibor on Thu Mar 17, 2016 10:52 am

I use 2 TBS salt per quart (3.6%)when I ferment anything in brine. I use 3 TBS salt per quart when I soak veggies for kimchee. I'll soak for 2 and a half hours and usually add back a cup or so of brine to my paste ( I normally make 2-5# kimchee at a time)to get a decent brine cover .
I put up many gallons of pickles during my garden harvest and still have gallons to share(my grandkids love them!) and take to events, and I'll be eating the last ones when I start to harvest this season's pickling cukes at the end of July. This is my groove.
After a while, we all find what works best for us without compromising flavor or storability. Sandor also tends to use more salt -or soak longer- than I do in many of his recipes. My ferments are certainly salty enough , ferment well, and store practically forever.
The amount of salt to quart of water ratio does not change, regardless of how much you ferment at a time. Keep adding till you have a good brine cover.
Tibor
 
Posts: 342
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 11:24 am

Re: Finally good Dill Pickles

Postby rvnmedic on Fri Aug 26, 2016 5:27 am

First attempt at Dill Pickles using a Picklemeister jar system (one gallon glass jar, plastic lid with grommet and airlock and another small lid that is inserted upside down on top of the brine.

Followed directions exactly, using 6 TBsp of kosher salt for the brine solution. Gently scrubbed the pickles and packed them vertically in the jar, along with dill heads and sliced onions. Everything is submerged in the brine and under the floating lid.

Three days later I see no activity in the airlock. Air temp in the house is 72-74. I did see one bubble on the second day in the airlock, but that was it. My kraut gets good fermentation starts after a day or so but not familiar with the pickle ferm time.

What should I do?
rvnmedic
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2016 3:21 pm
Location: Upstate NY


Return to Vegetable Ferments

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests