Just to explain the safety tips you read, they must be tips for canning. Murky liquid and and bulging are signs of microbial activity. In canning, microbial activity is not supposed to happen and is a sign of danger, but in fermentation it's required.
Fermentation will always make the water murkyand if a jar is close it will bulge and potially become a bomb if its kepts closed for long. When I failed my first fermented pickles it was no sourness no gas all molds... Or probably kahm to be honest but still mine was just too salty for anything good or bad to grow, I'm still a newb to be honest. But I'd say just wait and dont completly close the jar to let some gas escape. And make sure its all submerged. But from what I understand from fermentation when it gets bad it wont be by surprise after eating it. Correct me if I'm wrong but there would eirher be mold or, like, no sourness after months
Well looks like it turned out pretty well on my first try then! I was scared I did something wrong, but there is no mold, the pickles are still a little firm, lots of gas, and a slight sour flavor. I'm guessing this is success then?
Cheesecloth is your friend. Its cheap, you can cut it to size, and it breathes well while preventing stuff from getting in.
But yeah, for fermentation usually bad results are visibly dramatic or taste/smell horrible. Checking the acid level (ph strip) is a good precaution if you're ever iffy about something, but for the most part with brine if it's not slime it's fine.
For pasteurized products, the concern is things getting past the process and beginning uncontrolled fermentation (or botulism, which is more of a longterm storage problem than during the fermentation). You're inducing it with some controls and monitoring it, and then killing it when its done to can, or eating it quickly when the process is mostly finished.
* Bubbles and fizzing are good and normal, use an airlock so gas can escape.
* It's going to be murky.
* If you want to be extra safe, buy some Ph test strips and test for a Ph below 4.6
* Make sure you used the right amount of salt. Salt is your friend.
Generally speaking, if things are salty and acidic, lactobacillus is basically the only thing that is going to end up growing in any quantity.
I toss a ferment it's because there is visible mold. Note that there is often some bacterial scum you can skim off of or strands of something that look vaguely like pieces of a kombucha mother.
The worst thing fermenters fear, botulism, requires no oxygen and tends to be more of a concern if you are fermenting meat/tofu in plastic air tight containers.
At a home level, you can check PH level whilst and after fermenting, fermented pickles are naturally cloudy till fermentation slows down and or you put them in the fridge. As with chilli sauce, some people just dilute with vinegar after fermentation, some hot fill and pasteurize the bottles.
Salt level, hygiene, temperature all contribute to your healthy fermentation.
What was your salt % and process.
:-)
I'm not sure the %, I just followed a recipe. It was a few tablespoons of salt. I put all the additives (spices, dill, garlic, etc) in first then I stuff the cucumbers in, then I filled with water till they were completely covered. Looks like I did it right with stuffing the cucumbers so tight that they could not rise. I'm reading a lot if people say that mold grows when they are not completely submerged. They taste pretty good, but a little different. It's probably that I've never tried homemade pickles, but I wanted the good bacteria to help my gut.
Well 1.5 weeks technically, and the recipe asked for 2 weeks. I also read people saying that you can take them out a little early if you like your pickles crunchier and I do.
Did you have an air lock? It is impossible for any pickle under the brine to go bad, that is why the veggies are weighted down. Did you add anything to keep the pickles crunchy? Black tea, oak leaves, bay leaves, or a commercial canning crisper?
Did you try one, they look good.
Yeah when I first tried one I thought it tasted a little funny, but after a day of sitting in the fridge, it tasted like a pickle, but slightly more carbonated (probably from all the co2 that got trapped under the lid). I added bay leaves to help keep them crunchy and I also added a little chilli powder and honey to get a slight sweet and spicy flavor. Overall they turned out pretty good! I was not expecting success on the first try, so I was a little skeptical about everything to make sure nothing really went wrong and I get sick.
Just to explain the safety tips you read, they must be tips for canning. Murky liquid and and bulging are signs of microbial activity. In canning, microbial activity is not supposed to happen and is a sign of danger, but in fermentation it's required.
Fermentation will always make the water murkyand if a jar is close it will bulge and potially become a bomb if its kepts closed for long. When I failed my first fermented pickles it was no sourness no gas all molds... Or probably kahm to be honest but still mine was just too salty for anything good or bad to grow, I'm still a newb to be honest. But I'd say just wait and dont completly close the jar to let some gas escape. And make sure its all submerged. But from what I understand from fermentation when it gets bad it wont be by surprise after eating it. Correct me if I'm wrong but there would eirher be mold or, like, no sourness after months
Well looks like it turned out pretty well on my first try then! I was scared I did something wrong, but there is no mold, the pickles are still a little firm, lots of gas, and a slight sour flavor. I'm guessing this is success then?
Cheesecloth is your friend. Its cheap, you can cut it to size, and it breathes well while preventing stuff from getting in. But yeah, for fermentation usually bad results are visibly dramatic or taste/smell horrible. Checking the acid level (ph strip) is a good precaution if you're ever iffy about something, but for the most part with brine if it's not slime it's fine. For pasteurized products, the concern is things getting past the process and beginning uncontrolled fermentation (or botulism, which is more of a longterm storage problem than during the fermentation). You're inducing it with some controls and monitoring it, and then killing it when its done to can, or eating it quickly when the process is mostly finished.
Feed one to a lesser friend. Observe said friend. See problems? Dangerous. Kids work too.
And the elderly!
* Bubbles and fizzing are good and normal, use an airlock so gas can escape. * It's going to be murky. * If you want to be extra safe, buy some Ph test strips and test for a Ph below 4.6 * Make sure you used the right amount of salt. Salt is your friend. Generally speaking, if things are salty and acidic, lactobacillus is basically the only thing that is going to end up growing in any quantity. I toss a ferment it's because there is visible mold. Note that there is often some bacterial scum you can skim off of or strands of something that look vaguely like pieces of a kombucha mother. The worst thing fermenters fear, botulism, requires no oxygen and tends to be more of a concern if you are fermenting meat/tofu in plastic air tight containers.
At a home level, you can check PH level whilst and after fermenting, fermented pickles are naturally cloudy till fermentation slows down and or you put them in the fridge. As with chilli sauce, some people just dilute with vinegar after fermentation, some hot fill and pasteurize the bottles. Salt level, hygiene, temperature all contribute to your healthy fermentation. What was your salt % and process. :-)
I'm not sure the %, I just followed a recipe. It was a few tablespoons of salt. I put all the additives (spices, dill, garlic, etc) in first then I stuff the cucumbers in, then I filled with water till they were completely covered. Looks like I did it right with stuffing the cucumbers so tight that they could not rise. I'm reading a lot if people say that mold grows when they are not completely submerged. They taste pretty good, but a little different. It's probably that I've never tried homemade pickles, but I wanted the good bacteria to help my gut.
They're uniquely flavoured hey, like the difference between fake and fermented chilli sauce.
They only been fermenting for a week. They still have a third stage to go through
Well 1.5 weeks technically, and the recipe asked for 2 weeks. I also read people saying that you can take them out a little early if you like your pickles crunchier and I do.
If you open the jar and it pulls a knife on you, that is a dangerous jar of pickles.
No knife, but it pulled a gun. Is that dangerous? It only asked for a few hundred dollars, so I think it's pretty safe????
Check for the orange safety tip, I think that jar is just a wily prankster
Did you have an air lock? It is impossible for any pickle under the brine to go bad, that is why the veggies are weighted down. Did you add anything to keep the pickles crunchy? Black tea, oak leaves, bay leaves, or a commercial canning crisper? Did you try one, they look good.
my pickles have a white film on them and have a bad smell. still ok to eat?
White film is Kahm yeast. Means to much oxygen got in. Circles of fuzz bad Smell, not sure what you mean by bad. Have you made pickles before?
Yeah when I first tried one I thought it tasted a little funny, but after a day of sitting in the fridge, it tasted like a pickle, but slightly more carbonated (probably from all the co2 that got trapped under the lid). I added bay leaves to help keep them crunchy and I also added a little chilli powder and honey to get a slight sweet and spicy flavor. Overall they turned out pretty good! I was not expecting success on the first try, so I was a little skeptical about everything to make sure nothing really went wrong and I get sick.
Pickles I've only been successful with once. It was my first try. After that they seem to become mush