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

Firstly,, uniodizd salt keeps the rind green.

But most of all, why do you rinse the pickles from the brine????? I have
never heard of that...try lessening the salt if you don't like the taste
but don't rinse the brine off...it protects the pickle from bacteria.
Using unboiled tap water to rinse them off is just puting bacteria back
on the pickle....that's a big no-no.

After soaking in barrels for the alloted time, boil a less salty,
watered down brine with a fresh batch of seasonings and boil jars and
caps and store them...

and, pickles never lasted long in those barrels at the deli....yours at
home will take quite some time for you to consume them all...

http://community.webtv.net/R-J-Q/FIRSTANNUALALLYEAR

http://www.wtv-zone.com/cal555/index.html

wrote in message >...
> Firstly,, uniodizd salt keeps the rind green.

thanks for that tidbit ... I presumed it had little to do with the
fermentation process
>
> But most of all, why do you rinse the pickles from the brine????? I have
> never heard of that.

to wash of any scum or mold floasting in the liquid brine and even tho
I love salt on everything ...these are way to salty for my taste ... I
soak in plain water for 6 hours AFTER slicing into spears which
reduces salt tast

...try lessening the salt if you don't like the taste
> but don't rinse the brine off...it protects the pickle from bacteria.

Not according to FDA warnings ...salt level MUST be between 8 and 10%
to prevent deadly bacteria from forming during fermentation ..then it
is the lactic acid that keeps them safe

> Using unboiled tap water to rinse them off is just puting bacteria back
> on the pickle....that's a big no-no.

Note that I add a small amount of vinegar to fresh water and spices to
ref rigerate finished pickles ...that takes care of any residual
bacteria
>
> After soaking in barrels for the alloted time, boil a less salty,
> watered down brine with a fresh batch of seasonings and boil jars and
> caps and store them...

I don't process mine as in the canning process you describe
>
> and, pickles never lasted long in those barrels at the deli....yours at
> home will take quite some time for you to consume them all...

was wondering how long the shelf life was for unrefrigerated barrel
pickles ...haven't gotten any link that defines it well ...we give
away large containers to neighbors and friends ...use several quarts
at a time at home ..last batch will be late Sept and they'll last thru
New Year's party ... 2 gal of brined pickles/spears = (3) 5# tall
plastic containers
>

Thanks again for you input,
Stew Corman from sunny Endicott

Firstly,, uniodizd salt keeps the rind green.

But most of all, why do you rinse the pickles from the brine????? I have
never heard of that...try lessening the salt if you don't like the taste
but don't rinse the brine off...it protects the pickle from bacteria.
Using unboiled tap water to rinse them off is just puting bacteria back
on the pickle....that's a big no-no.

After soaking in barrels for the alloted time, boil a less salty,
watered down brine with a fresh batch of seasonings and boil jars and
caps and store them...

and, pickles never lasted long in those barrels at the deli....yours at
home will take quite some time for you to consume them all...

http://community.webtv.net/R-J-Q/FIRSTANNUALALLYEAR

http://www.wtv-zone.com/cal555/index.html