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Preserving (rec.food.preserving) Devoted to the discussion of recipes, equipment, and techniques of food preservation. Techniques that should be discussed in this forum include canning, freezing, dehydration, pickling, smoking, salting, and distilling. |
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Something wrong with fermentation
I have a recipe that I've been using for several years now to make dill
pickles. It produces some very yummy deli style pickles that I'm very proud of. For this recipe, I put all my cucumbers, dill, brine, spices and garlic in a large container and let them sit for 3-4 weeks. They usually ferment, creating a nasty looking/smelling frothy scum which I scoop off each day. For some reason, they have not started fermenting yet this year after 3 weeks. The brine turned cloudy and there were a few bubbles the first couple of days but that's it. I had this happen once before but luckily, I had three batches on the go at once and was able to "back slop" some of the fermenting brine into the bucket that had not started up, giving it a kick start so to speak. However, I am unable to do that this year as I am only making one batch. Any suggestions to get them fermenting would be greatly appreciated. Also, if they didn't really ferment the way they have in the past, is there much chance of them going bad? I mean, could they be dangerous to eat? Frustrated from faulty fermentation, Craig |
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Something wrong with fermentation
Maybe there is a time delay due to temperature? I've seen what you describe
as frothy scum type of fermentation, but my ferments have been quite mild. Slow fermentation makes a better end product. "Craig MacLachlan" > wrote in message .. . > I have a recipe that I've been using for several years now to make dill > pickles. It produces some very yummy deli style pickles that I'm very proud > of. For this recipe, I put all my cucumbers, dill, brine, spices and garlic > in a large container and let them sit for 3-4 weeks. They usually ferment, > creating a nasty looking/smelling frothy scum which I scoop off each day. > For some reason, they have not started fermenting yet this year after 3 > weeks. The brine turned cloudy and there were a few bubbles the first > couple of days but that's it. > > I had this happen once before but luckily, I had three batches on the go at > once and was able to "back slop" some of the fermenting brine into the > bucket that had not started up, giving it a kick start so to speak. > However, I am unable to do that this year as I am only making one batch. > > Any suggestions to get them fermenting would be greatly appreciated. > > Also, if they didn't really ferment the way they have in the past, is there > much chance of them going bad? I mean, could they be dangerous to eat? > > Frustrated from faulty fermentation, > Craig > > > > |
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Something wrong with fermentation
I've never brewed pickles but when making wine I add ordinary cooking
yeast, the same stuff I use in the bread machine. It can be started in a little sugar and water before being added to whatever is being fermented but I usually just sprinkle the yeast right onto the juice. Half a teaspoonful gets things started. It should be bubbling within a day of being added. "Craig MacLachlan" ) writes: > I have a recipe that I've been using for several years now to make dill > pickles. It produces some very yummy deli style pickles that I'm very proud > of. For this recipe, I put all my cucumbers, dill, brine, spices and garlic > in a large container and let them sit for 3-4 weeks. They usually ferment, > creating a nasty looking/smelling frothy scum which I scoop off each day. > For some reason, they have not started fermenting yet this year after 3 > weeks. The brine turned cloudy and there were a few bubbles the first > couple of days but that's it. > > I had this happen once before but luckily, I had three batches on the go at > once and was able to "back slop" some of the fermenting brine into the > bucket that had not started up, giving it a kick start so to speak. > However, I am unable to do that this year as I am only making one batch. > > Any suggestions to get them fermenting would be greatly appreciated. > > Also, if they didn't really ferment the way they have in the past, is there > much chance of them going bad? I mean, could they be dangerous to eat? > > Frustrated from faulty fermentation, > Craig > > > > -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm warning: non-freenet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned |
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Something wrong with fermentation
The bacteria that ferments pickles is lactobacillus. My dill pickle recipe
uses a small crust of sourbough bread per crock as a starter, and it always works. You MUST have a source of real sourdough bread made from real living sourdough starter, or it wont work. I get mine at my local artisanal bakery. Apparently baking doesn't kill off all the bacteria. DFE "William R. Watt" > wrote in message ... > I've never brewed pickles but when making wine I add ordinary cooking > yeast, the same stuff I use in the bread machine. It can be started in a > little sugar and water before being added to whatever is being fermented > but I usually just sprinkle the yeast right onto the juice. Half a > teaspoonful gets things started. It should be bubbling within a day of > being added. > > "Craig MacLachlan" ) writes: > > I have a recipe that I've been using for several years now to make dill > > pickles. It produces some very yummy deli style pickles that I'm very proud > > of. For this recipe, I put all my cucumbers, dill, brine, spices and garlic > > in a large container and let them sit for 3-4 weeks. They usually ferment, > > creating a nasty looking/smelling frothy scum which I scoop off each day. > > For some reason, they have not started fermenting yet this year after 3 > > weeks. The brine turned cloudy and there were a few bubbles the first > > couple of days but that's it. > > > > I had this happen once before but luckily, I had three batches on the go at > > once and was able to "back slop" some of the fermenting brine into the > > bucket that had not started up, giving it a kick start so to speak. > > However, I am unable to do that this year as I am only making one batch. > > > > Any suggestions to get them fermenting would be greatly appreciated. > > > > Also, if they didn't really ferment the way they have in the past, is there > > much chance of them going bad? I mean, could they be dangerous to eat? > > > > Frustrated from faulty fermentation, > > Craig > > > > > > > > > > > -- > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network > homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm > warning: non-freenet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned |
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