Pickled Cucumbers

[capretta]

Looks epic though kaiser, after making my own cheese i thought i would eat any sort of mould but you are re testing my limits! Time to ferment some veggies!

 

[Pleasure Master]

Wow, this topic has gone hot! ..apparently..

I have a question, can one use 'swing top' jars as appossed to screwy on lid type?

 

[benno1973]

Absolutely! Swing top Fido jars are the ducks nuts for pickling. Fido jars apparently relieve pressure as fermentation progresses...

 

[Pleasure Master]

Absolutely! Swing top Fido jars are the ducks nuts for pickling. Fido jars apparently relieve pressure as fermentation progresses...

Any insight on to how that happens, not to sound like an *******, but how?

 

[benno1973]

Any insight on to how that happens, not to sound like an *******, but how?

I only heard about it the other day and questioned it myself. But it seems that there's a bit of reference to that on the internet, like this for example:

Fido’s vulcanized rubber gasket is an airlock. It keeps the oxygen out, while allowing CO2 to escape. The difference, though, is this: the CO2 needs to build up more pressure before the lid is lifted and the CO2 escapes between the rubber gasket and the glass rim.

And here:

The white gasket you see on the Fido acts as a built-in airlock. There is a photo of the Fido in my Sauerkraut Survivor series that shows the foaming on the side from the excess CO2 escaping. There are other people (bloggers and on the Wild Fermentation group) who have experienced this as well. The Fido is a canning jar and was made to keep out oxygen and yet let excess CO2 be released.

I don't personally have any experience using them for fermenting, so I can't confirm. And if I did ferment in them, I'd probably take the safer option and burp them occasionally...

 

[Pleasure Master]

Just thinking, is there a potential for botulisim with making pickles?

 

[QldKev]

Just thinking, is there a potential for botulisim with making pickles?

Only if you no-chill [sharedmedia=core:attachments:59806]

 

[benno1973]

Just thinking, is there a potential for botulisim with making pickles?

Nope, not really. They're either lacto-fermented or done with vinegar, both of which lower the pH enough to prevent botulism.

A quote from a USDA specialist:

There has never been a documented case of foodborne illness from fermented vegetables. Risky is not a word I would use to describe vegetable fermentation.

 

[benno1973]

Just found the quote I was after...

Leaving foods unrefrigerated for two weeks or more can be disturbing to those who weren’t raised with a crock of pickles in the hallway. But U.S. Department of Agriculture research service microbiologist Fred Breidt says properly fermented vegetables are actually safer than raw vegetables, which might have been exposed to pathogens like E. coli on the farm.
“With fermented products there is no safety concern. I can flat-out say that. The reason is the lactic acid bacteria that carry out the fermentation are the world’s best killers of other bacteria,” says Breidt, who works at a lab at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, where scientists have been studying fermented and other pickled foods since the 1930s.
Breidt adds that fermented vegetables, for which there are no documented cases of food-borne illness, are safer for novices to make than canned vegetables. Pressurized canning creates an anaerobic environment that increases the risk of deadly botulism, particularly with low-acid foods.

 

[Endo]

I make these: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/23995/bread+and+butter+pickles

I think the vinegar you use will make all the difference. I used the Macro Cloudy Apple Cider vinegar from Woolies and they came up great.