I am trying fermented dills for the first time this year. I used the
recipe in SETP minus the garlic and hot pepper.

They've been in the brine about a week and temperatures have mostly
been mid-60s to mid-70s with one day getting up to 80 and last night
down to 62.

The brine is pretty cloudy which I understand is normal and the odor
is a little funky but not bad and mostly smells of dill.

I have them in a glass flour canister with a ziploc bag of brine on
top and a ceramic bowl to keep everything submerged. I've been
checking them every couple of days and there was enough opaque white
scum on top to skim off. To do this I had to remove the bowl and a
couple pickles floated up out of the brine. I cleaned the surface of
the brine and used a clean bowl to resubmerge everything.

Is this sounding normal so far? Do I need to worry that the pickles
came up out of the brine?

Thanks for any input!

Beti wrote:
> I am trying fermented dills for the first time this year. I used the
> recipe in SETP minus the garlic and hot pepper.
>
> They've been in the brine about a week and temperatures have mostly
> been mid-60s to mid-70s with one day getting up to 80 and last night
> down to 62.
>
> The brine is pretty cloudy which I understand is normal and the odor
> is a little funky but not bad and mostly smells of dill.
>
> I have them in a glass flour canister with a ziploc bag of brine on
> top and a ceramic bowl to keep everything submerged. I've been
> checking them every couple of days and there was enough opaque white
> scum on top to skim off. To do this I had to remove the bowl and a
> couple pickles floated up out of the brine. I cleaned the surface of
> the brine and used a clean bowl to resubmerge everything.
>
> Is this sounding normal so far? Do I need to worry that the pickles
> came up out of the brine?
>
> Thanks for any input!


From what I remember (has it really been 40 years?) all that is
exactly normal. HTH

-Bob

On Aug 31, 11:42*am, zxcvbob > wrote:
> Beti wrote:
> > I am trying fermented dills for the first time this year. *I used the
> > recipe in SETP minus the garlic and hot pepper.
>
> > They've been in the brine about a week and temperatures have mostly
> > been mid-60s to mid-70s with one day getting up to 80 and last night
> > down to 62.
>
> > The brine is pretty cloudy which I understand is normal and the odor
> > is a little funky but not bad and mostly smells of dill.
>
> > I have them in a glass flour canister with a ziploc bag of brine on
> > top and a ceramic bowl to keep everything submerged. *I've been
> > checking them every couple of days and there was enough opaque white
> > scum on top to skim off. *To do this I had to remove the bowl and a
> > couple pickles floated up out of the brine. *I cleaned the surface of
> > the brine and used a clean bowl to resubmerge everything.
>
> > Is this sounding normal so far? *Do I need to worry that the pickles
> > came up out of the brine?
>
> > Thanks for any input!
>
> *From what I remember (has it really been 40 years?) all that is
> exactly normal. *HTH
>
> -Bob

That does help, Bob. Thanks. I looking forward to trying them now
that they seem to be doing what they are supposed to do.

On Sep 1, 1:07*pm, Beti > wrote:
> On Aug 31, 11:42*am, zxcvbob > wrote:
>
>
>
> > Beti wrote:
> > > I am trying fermented dills for the first time this year. *I used the
> > > recipe in SETP minus the garlic and hot pepper.
>
> > > They've been in the brine about a week and temperatures have mostly
> > > been mid-60s to mid-70s with one day getting up to 80 and last night
> > > down to 62.
>
> > > The brine is pretty cloudy which I understand is normal and the odor
> > > is a little funky but not bad and mostly smells of dill.
>
> > > I have them in a glass flour canister with a ziploc bag of brine on
> > > top and a ceramic bowl to keep everything submerged. *I've been
> > > checking them every couple of days and there was enough opaque white
> > > scum on top to skim off. *To do this I had to remove the bowl and a
> > > couple pickles floated up out of the brine. *I cleaned the surface of
> > > the brine and used a clean bowl to resubmerge everything.
>
> > > Is this sounding normal so far? *Do I need to worry that the pickles
> > > came up out of the brine?
>
> > > Thanks for any input!
>
> > *From what I remember (has it really been 40 years?) all that is
> > exactly normal. *HTH
>
> > -Bob
>
> That does help, Bob. *Thanks. *I looking forward to trying them now
> that they seem to be doing what they are supposed to do.

One more pickle question, if anyone can advise. I had the glass jar
in another room and moved them into the kitchen to make it easier to
skim the surface. In the process, I sloshed the liquid around more
than I intended and the whitish scum on the top kind of mixed into the
liquid and then settled onto the bottom. The various sources
including UGA, OSU and other fermented food sites have conflicting
information on this. Some say the white sediment is fine some say it
is yeast that will increase the pH of the brine and spoil the
pickles.

Can anyone weigh in with their experiences? Thanks!