New with Mushy Pickles

[sjm1027]

I am new to this group and need some help.

I made my first batch of pickles and tossed them after 3 days. They were very soft and mushy. I used English cucumber cut into quarters, added thinly slices onions, garlic sliced, pepper corns and some dried dill. I mixed 4 cups of filtered water with 1 1/2 table spoon sea salt. Loaded a wide mouth Mason jar with an air lock. 3 days later quite a let down. Thought I had everything right but I guess not. If anyone has any ideas please let me know. Thanks

[CulturedCascadian]

When making cucumber pickles, the blossom end emits an enzyme that causes this. You can either use a tannin-rich addition to the jar, such as a grape leaf or some black tea, or cut off the blossom end, or both. I always top and tail my pickles to avoid this. Good luck with the next batch.

[Christopher Weeks]

Yeah, grape leaves are the magic ingredient for me!

[Tibor]

Yes, grape leaves are the answer. I've been making pickles for many years but I learned something new last year. There is such a thing as too many grape leaves. I did a batch that came out a bit bitter because I was too generous with the grape leaves. 9 or 10 leaves are sufficient for a 10 # batch. I wouldn't cut up pickling cukes (the only kind I use) or even cut the ends off before fermenting for 2 weeks. I just wash them and knock off the blossoms and keep them whole . I just opened a 1/2 gallon jar from last August and they are still very firm and crunchy. I don't believe that would be the case if I had sliced them up ahead of time.

[lucilee]

I've used a couple of tea bags in a quart jar which turned out crispy pickles. (tea has tannins) A spiced holiday tea added nice flavor and I learned that some heritage pickles use cinnamon as their secret ingredient.

Go easy on the cinnamon because it has anti-microbial properties.