First cucumber fermentation

[karstopography]

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My first ever lacto-fermentation. 5% brine by weight of water and contents. Used sea salt. Two muscadine grape leaves from my yard as a top. Two kinds of cucumbers from the garden, one is garden sweet, the bumpy ones. Used 3-4 inch ones. The other cucumber is a mystery type, possibly a persian, whatever it is, it doesn’t get real long. Used super chilies from the garden to add heat, store bought fresh dill and dill seed. One clove of garlic. A little crushed mustard seed. That’s it.

[PlainJane]

Wish you lived down the street, lol!

[worth1]

How long ya gonna let then ferment?
I Like abut 7 days for kosher deli style half sour dills.

[karstopography]

I’m not sure. How active of a ferment do you expect with cucumbers each day? I’m about 24 hours into it and it doesn’t seem particularly active in there. I know ambient temperature and the percent of the salt in the brine make a difference. I followed the Joshua Weismann method where the vegetables and water necessary to cover the vegetables are all put in the jar, that’s weighed, the weight of jar subtracted, and then the salt percentage is calibrated on the weight of the water plus the vegetables. So if the water plus vegetables weigh 500 grams, the salt added would be 25 grams in the case of 5%.

I could have and maybe should have gone lower on the salt percentage, but much of what I read suggested cucumbers did better with a higher percentage brine, being that cucumbers are naturally so watery on their own.

One thing I’m understanding is that there’s not a lot of standardization in the recipes for brine. It could be one guy talks about volumes, teaspoons of this, pints of that or it could be the weight of the water alone or some combination.

More salt, slower fermentation, all else being equal. Too much salt, no fermentation. Too little salt, risk bad things taking over. Warmer temperatures, speedier fermentation.

I’m sure there’s a sweet spot for about every vegetable and condition. I like a lot of salt, my wife likes a lot of salt, so saltier stuff is going to have more appeal to us. If anything, I could have overdone the salt percentage, but the brine I tasted a few hours after the beginning tasted wonderful to me so based on that tasting experience, the salt is right.

[Cole_Robbie]

Now is a good time to get into fermenting. Everything I read says fermented food is very healthy and contains probiotics, which can have antiviral properties.

[worth1]

Did you wash the cucumbers if so not a good idea.
When I buy hot peppers from the store I dont wash them.
That means they might even have slobbers on them I dont care.
Next dont over complicate it with exact weights and measures.
I use about 2 to 3 tablespoons salt to one quart of water period.
I pack the cucumbers or peppers in a jar with whatever spices and pour in the salted water that is it.
Close the lid and let it go.

[SQWIB]

Yeah don't wash but a light rinse under cool water and nip off the blossom end.

[karstopography]

I see bubbles in mine now. My brine is on the higher end on the salt so it’s just slowing down the process a little.

[Shule]

[mention]karstopography[/mention]
I'm excited to hear how they taste, and how long it takes with that much salt.

I tried lacto-fermenting rhubarb with a lot of salt once. It never did much; so, I probably added too much. I'm guessing cucumbers with the same amount of salt I used on my rhubarb might have fermented, though, since I've heard they bubble a lot (and I don't think rhubarb does). If you're wondering, 'Why rhubarb?' That's what was in season at the time, when I first started fermenting things.

[pepperhead212]

I'm new to this, but it seems to have gone well! I brined them, with a number of garlic scapes, for the garlic flavor, some pickling spices (allspice, black and Szechwan peppercorns, coriander, cumin, dill seed, and bay leaf) plus some fresh dill heads. I used a brine with 5½ oz salt dissolved in a gallon of water, along with 2 tsp calcium chloride. I cured them for 12 days in the basement, in 2 one gallon jars.
Naturally fermenting pickles, on the 5th day. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Top of the fermenting pickles, on 5th day. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Today I rinsed and transferred the pickles to a large container, to put in the fridge, and filtered the brine through some coffee filters. Here are some of the pickles, before I weighted all of them down.
Pickles, cured in brine for 12 days, going into the fridge. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The 2 County Fairs that I pickled were definitely soft, while the Wisconsin 58s were firm and crisp. Only sliced a small piece of each type to taste, but even that soft CF pickle seemed crisp - that calcium chloride did it's thing!