I am in the process of preparing several five gallon plastic pails of
classic brine pickels. All the posts I see are years old, so I have a
few clarifications to ask.

First I will detail the process:
scrub the whole fresh cucumbers, add diced garlic, several dill
stalks, mixed spices, and 2 cups of salt (why uniodized?) per gallon
(10% brine) of fresh water, (no vinegar).

Place disc with weight ( in ziplock bag) on top to keep everything
under liquid.
After several days, bubbles, then scum on top ...remove with
papertowel.
After three to four weeks at around 70 degrees, they are completed
garlic dill Kosher barrel pickels.

Here is the discussion part:

In the old stores when I was a kid, at the Deli, they had real wood
barrels and the pickels were NOT refrigerated, just a plastic lid on
top. Once the fermentation has completed, how long can they stay
unrefrigerated?

Does it reach a point where so much acid is produced, that no mold
forms?
OR, do you add some vinegar to accomplish the above?

Currently, I removed completed pickels, cut into spears, place in
plain water for several hours to reduced some of the saltyness, drain,
add some vinegar, fresh dill, tad of garlic, add fresh water and place
in frig ...lasts many weeks (months?)

BTW, if you keep flushing with fresh water, you can totally remove all
the salt, but then they taste terrible!

Any comments on any of the above statements greatly appreciated.

Stew Corman from sunny Endicott