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Fermenting garden veggies

Bluesman said:
 Fermenting cucumbers is a bit tricky.  If you´ve ever eaten a russian dinner, there is always fermented salty cucumbers served.
I use russian varieties and ferment them when small and solid, max 12 cm long and 4 cm thick. 
My recipes include cucumber, brushed and soaked in cold water overnight. Next day I put in a 10 liter plastic bucket layers of cucumbers (whole, not sliced), flowering dill, mustard seeds, blackcurrant and oak and cherry leaves, garlic, onion, horseradish pieces and salt 2%. Fill the bucket with cooked and cooled water. I put a ceramic plate to keep all the stuff under water. Then the bucket´s own plastic lid on but not very tight. Keep in +20C for 3 days. The fermentation is very rapid and if you leave it in +20C for a week it surely is mushy. You can measure the pH on the 3rd day and it should be 4,1 or less. Sometimes it goes slower and the pH is 5 but it goes down in most cases. Tighten the lid and put in a cool place (+4-6C) for a month. Enjoy!
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Mine came out a little too mushy.  The recipe called for 3 days but they were still bubbling so I left them for a week.
 
 
oldsalty said:
I grow Boston cukes great for pickling. Make mixed batches as well lots of friends and family love them just no chilies hahaha but I love them spicy!! Never heard of using the black currant and cherry leaves. Is there a significant flavor advantage to using these,
what kind of taste do they impart?
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I have been using Wisconsin Picklers.  They seem to grow from thumb size to oversize over night.  They are great for hot packed refrigerator pickles.  I have made some sweet/hot and dill/hot that came out great.  The crappy season did not produce near as many cukes as I normally get.  I will try again next year.  
 
I have Red Currant I will try.  They do have the same rough texture as grape leaves so the tannins are there. 
 
 
Do fermented pickles have a totally different taste than vinegar hot packed refrigerator or canned pickles?    I really like the taste of fermented onions, serranos and other hots so far.  Maybe I just don't know what the flavor of cukes should be.  The mushy is hopefully just timing.  I will keep trying.
 
@Rairdog; After 3 days you see bubbling. Naturally, but you have to cool it down or you´ll end up with cucumber soup. The fermentation will continue in cool storage but slower.
Red currant leaves have no aroma. If you don´t get blackcurrant leaves, use cherry or oak.
The difference between fermented stuff/vinegar stuff is like color tv/black&white tv or stereo/mono music.
 
Bluesman said:
@Rairdog; After 3 days you see bubbling. Naturally, but you have to cool it down or you´ll end up with cucumber soup. The fermentation will continue in cool storage but slower.
Red currant leaves have no aroma. If you don´t get blackcurrant leaves, use cherry or oak.
The difference between fermented stuff/vinegar stuff is like color tv/black&white tv or stereo/mono music.
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Hey Bluesman not to get off subject. But are the blues big in Finland? I'm a huge blues fan. Always like to meet likeminded people!! :)
 
Bluesman said:
Here´s some of my own stuff. And yes, blues belongs to finnish mentality. We have several festivals dedicated only for the blues.
I´ve played in various bluesbands since 1975 and had a chanceto play with stars like Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and Taj Mahal.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs_ZdkrDpkM
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Wow brother that's awesome!!!!!! Loved it!! What a beautiful setting to play. I'm a harmonica player,and play some guitar as far as my guitar playing still learning hahaha but get better every day. But I can blow a mean ass harp. Played with the Melvin Taylor band in Chicago and I got to play with Buddy Guy at a show in Massachusetts, as well as a quick sit in with Marcia Ball at a local Blues festival, etc playing for over 30 years really love the blues!!!! Thanks for showing me some of your stuff you can play!!!!!!!
 
Bluesman said:
This seems to be a common combination; chilis and the blues. Can you please send me a sample of your stuff?
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFQ2KNyAd3g
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0woHgnjRNjw
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Wow bluesman that's AWESOME MAN!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry I've nothing on video that I can show right now. But will blow some harp have my wife record and post! :) I'm blow away brother. Oh loved voodoo chili hahaha hahaha very funny name play!!! Lots of talented people here who would love to see this.
 
The dills I  fermented taste like they were marinated in tonic water.....carbonated.  Is this normal? 
 
My question is...do fermented pickles have a similar taste to vinegar pickles or do they take on a flavor of their own that is unique.  Like you mentioned Blue,  you can grow up eating fermented
Russian pickles and that's what you are used to.  Then you taste a vinegar pickle and it taste's like crap.  I'm thinking the added flavor's/aroma are just personal preferences of what you have on hand and are growing. 
 
I am still learning the fermentation process and don't quite understand if it plays a major role in flavor.  I get that leaving them in too long makes them mushy. 
 
Does the initial ingredients/spices make them unique or the process of timing and salt/water ratio play a major factor.  I keep reading different salt to water ratios.  I opted to add a little vinegar to lower the ph of my well water.  
 
Can I expect a high ph of my well water of 8.4 to drop without adding vinegar? 
 
Does the salt/water ratio really make difference?
 
 
Rairdog said:
The dills I  fermented taste like they were marinated in tonic water.....carbonated.  Is this normal? 
 
My question is...do fermented pickles have a similar taste to vinegar pickles or do they take on a flavor of their own that is unique.  Like you mentioned Blue,  you can grow up eating fermented
Russian pickles and that's what you are used to.  Then you taste a vinegar pickle and it taste's like crap.  I'm thinking the added flavor's/aroma are just personal preferences of what you have on hand and are growing. 
 
I am still learning the fermentation process and don't quite understand if it plays a major role in flavor.  I get that leaving them in too long makes them mushy. 
 
Does the initial ingredients/spices make them unique or the process of timing and salt/water ratio play a major factor.  I keep reading different salt to water ratios.  I opted to add a little vinegar to lower the ph of my well water.  
 
Can I expect a high ph of my well water of 8.4 to drop without adding vinegar? 
 
Does the salt/water ratio really make difference?
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Yes you should get that fizzy sensation but they should still have that tang from fermenting. I love fermenting dills think the flavor is much better than vinegar dills. I've never added vinegar to ferment as this could inhibit the good bacteria growth that promotes fermentation.
Spices definitely give them the particular flavor profile you like. I like lots of dill,mustard seed and garlic. Lots of great combos!
To much salt and yer pickles will be really salty!
 
Jim....check out Stickman's Glog. He has a recipe for half sour/sour pickles that I tried and I thought they were pretty good. I already finished a batch and currently have another batch in the fridge that I am going for a more sour taste. In my opinion they are definitely different than regular vinegar pickles. Rick's recipe produces a pickle that is very similar to what you would get at a Jewish Delicatessen.

Here it is

Sure thing Terry... I came across this recipe in a web search a few years ago and have been using it with good results ever since. I get Kirby cukes at the local market or from my own garden plot and wash them, put 2 tbsp of pickling spice in the bottom of a 2 quart jar along with a sprig of fresh dill, 3 crushed cloves of garlic, 2 dried chiles (I use takanotsume chiles) and pack the cucumbers in as tightly as I can without bursting them. I mix the brine at the rate of 80 grams of kosher salt to 2 quarts of clear water and pour it over the cukes, leaving an inch and a half of airspace below the top of the jar to allow room for expansion. These are fermented pickles, I don't add vinegar, so the longer they sit in the brine the more sour they become. I start to eat mine after a week, and finish them off by the end of the following week. That makes them half sour. Full sour pickles sit in the brine for 3 weeks and you have to finish them quickly before they get soft on you.
http://chowhound.cho...m/topics/805067
 
@Rairdog; You are on the edge of learning how to ferment your chili/s/veggies. But do not add any water into other vegetable masses than cucumber. If you´re making sauerkraut, the 1-2% coarse sea salt will suck the water from the cabbage and after crushing the cabbage strips and adding salt, just out of nothing the vegetable mass will moisten and gradually a liquid surface is formed. Cucumber makes a difference because it is already quite soft when you start the process and it would surely become mushy if you´d apply a force. That is why salt water (~1-2%, heated as boiling and cooled down) is poured over the cucumbers after they have been appropiately layered in the plastic bucket.
 
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