Brined cucumber pickles
The industrial-scale cucumber, at a brine strength three times what a modern jar recipe uses. It is here because it is the one cucumber fermentation the bulletin follows all the way through, and because the contrast with the USDA household version on this site is the clearest illustration of how wide the word 'pickle' is.
4 steps, every one quoted from FAO Bulletin 134 5.6.3. The step labels are this site's; the sentences under them are not.
Salt, at a batch you might actually make
15 to 20 % salt in water, of the weight of the finished brine.
| Water | Salt at 15% | Salt at 20% |
|---|---|---|
| 1 kg | 176 g | 250 g |
| 2 kg | 353 g | 500 g |
| 5 kg | 882 g | 1250 g |
The arithmetic, at 2 kg
Percent by weight of the finished brine.
salt / (salt + water) = percent / 100
salt = water x percent / (100 - percent)
= 2.000 kg x 15.00% / (100 - 15)
= 352.9 g
Finished brine: 2.353 kg, of which 15.00% is salt.This is a percentage by weight of the finished brine, which is what a salinity meter reads and is not the same as grams per 100 mL of water. The calculator gives both.
Every number the source states
- Covering brine
- 15 to 20% salt in water
- Optimum temperature for L. cucumeris
- 29 to 32°C
- Active fermentation
- 10 to 30 days
- Acidity reached
- about 2%
- Microbial succession
- Leuconostoc mesenteroides first, then lactobacilli
The washed cucumbers are placed in large tanks and salt brine (15 to 20%) is added.
The optimum temperature for L. Cucumeris is 29 to 32°C.
The active stage of fermentation continues for between 10 to 30 days, depending upon the temperature of the fermentation.
During the fermentative period, the acidity increases to about 2% and the strong acid producing types of bacteria reach their maximum growth.
As with the sauerkraut process, the gram positive coccus - Leuconostoc mesenteroides predominates in the first stages of pickle fermentation.
Method
Numbered for your place in the list. Every sentence below is the source's own, verified against the page it came from when this table was last built from the sources.
Pack and brine
The washed cucumbers are placed in large tanks and salt brine (15 to 20%) is added.
Submerge, and mean it
The cucumbers are submerged in the brine, ensuring that none float on the surface - this is essential to prevent spoilage.
Top the salt back up
In order to maintain a salt solution so that fermentation can take place, more salt has to be added to the brine solution.
Wait
A few days after the cucumbers have been placed in the brine, the fermentation process begins.
What else the source says
- What goes wrong below twelve percent
- If the concentration of salt falls below 12%, it will result in spoilage of the pickles through putrefaction and softening.
- How it relates to sauerkraut
- The fermentation process is very similar to the sauerkraut process, only brine is used instead of dry salt.
What is doing the work
Before you make this
This site is a reference and not a food safety authority. It reports what named sources published and does not certify that any preparation is safe. The safety page sets out what the sources themselves say about acidity, about surface growth and about when to throw something away, and equipment lists the instruments the numbers above cannot be checked without.
The full record for this pickle, including every source consulted and the ones that disagree, is on its tradition page.
Other brined recipes
- Fermented dill pickles, USDA home method
- Green mango pickle
- Lime pickle, brined
- Black olives
- Brined vegetables, the general method
- Green olives, Spanish style
- Kanji
- Kimchi
Method and asides from FAO 134 Battcock, M. and Azam-Ali, S. (1998) Fermented fruits and vegetables: A global perspective. FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin No. 134. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome. Numbers from the same source, extracted separately and listed on methodology.