Feuer wrote:

Julia Dream wrote:

starter. Just a couple of tablespoons of the brine into the normal 1
tablespoon kosher salt and 1 cup of water, is that it? And this can be done

I think it's more like 1 Tbs pickling or (fine?) sea salt. Kosher salt
measures differently by volume.

Then you're putting in a heckuva lot more salt than I've been telling
you... I can't remember if I said kosher salt, just just to be clear,
it's 1 scant tablespoon kosher salt:1 cup water.

Perhaps that's what might have gone wrong, your brine was too strong for
anything to grow. That's close the strength I use to cure olives.

B/