Boiling brine is only used to fill the jars usually. Its not meant for the fermenataion process. If they are too big, it could have caused the problem you describe. Also, because a few cukes can be bitter when pickled (you can never tell by color, size, etc), the only way to really know is to taste one before its pickled or fermented. Gasses do build up inside a bigger cuke, especially if its got a hollow center with a seed cavity that is open at the middle. Another thing is to always cut off the tips at BOTH ends before you soak in brines. Doing so, ensures that all of the insides are going to get brined. Besides that, the tips (usually the stem end) can be very bitter to begin with. This is the main reason you cannot tell of the whole cuke is bitter, as some can be that way all the way out to the blossom end, while others may only be bitter very close to the stem. I have forgoten the name or chemical involved, but its whats in every cuke, no matter the type, its just tat a few will inherit this bitter tatse all the way through it. Suggest that you remove the biggest cukes, and let the rest stay in for the recommended amount of time. If there is debris in the brine, then you may waht to halt the fermentation and allow it to go to completion early.

You don't use salt in the water. Wow, I don't know why they exploded ! Never heard of that one. Uhhh, I would dump them. If they are foaming, they are BAD ! I would be afraid they have contaminated the whole batch.
Exploding pickles is not one of the problems listed in my books.
You just wash the cukes off, boil plain water, then put the cucumbers in the hot water. Let cool, then put a lid on them.
Next day, drain off the water, boil fresh water in a big pan, and put fresh water on the cucumbers in whatever it is you are keeping them in.

You do mean the sweet chunk pickles, don't you ??
You don't cut the ends off of them while they are in the days of the water. I cut them off when they go in the syrup, when I cut them in the chunks.

That is what I'm making the sweet pickles! I didn't cut the ends yet! I'm thinkinh some of the cukes were to big, and hollow in the middle and maybe gases formed! They didn't explode all over the place just burst open! I will continue on and keep watching what happens, I threw out all the bigger ones and kept the ones that still feel really firm! I will see how it goes. I smelled the bad cukes and all of them still smelled fine. So I'm guessing just to big! Some were on the vine way longer then they should have been, so maybe they were over ripe!
Thanks
Brenda

If they were large enough pickling cukes to be yellow colored, then I guess I could see that happening. I wouldn't use any that large. I have never had any get that large. Now we have to buy ours since we don't have much of a garden spot.
Take your cucumbers before you use them, put in water. If they float, they are hollow.

All recipes I have read regarding pickling a cucumber tell you to cut off BOTH end tips before any brining, fermenting or processing of any kind. Some cukes can get very bitter tasting if the stem ends are left on.

IIRC, all the recipes I have read regarding pickling a cucumber tell you to cut off a bit of the blossom end and leave a little stub of the stem attached. I'll check this again to be sure, but that's what I recall.

Jim

BTW, it's likely that the foaming and bursting of pickles is due to carbon dioxide produced by yeast. And the pickles which "exploded" probably were hollow, or verging on hollow, which created a containment for the gas.

Yeast fermentation is not what you're after when fermenting pickles. You want bacterial fermentation. But yeast likes similar conditions to the bacteria (sugar, liquid, room temperature) so you will get yeast too. Pickle recipes tell you to skim off the yeast daily if it forms a scum. You can control the yeast to some extent, but you can't eliminate it.

If I'm right (and you will have to judge that for yourself), your pickles have not spoiled. They have just burst from the pressure of the carbon dioxide. If so, I would discard the burst ones. The others should be OK. Also, you want the yeast fermentation to stop eventually, and I think it will. We don't like fizzy pickles.

Jim

They are not fermented pickles.... no vinegar, no salt, nothing added while they are in the water. They should do nothing at all, but sit there, no fermentation in this type . Occasionally I get a teeny bit of scum on top of the water, but that is all. The water is changed every day.
I do not want the ends of the raw cucumbers sitting in the water, so I don't cut the ends off until they go into the syrup, when they are cut up.
I know, normally you do cut off the blossom end.... I wash the cucumbers well and be sure it is very clean on the end.
My friend tried cutting off then ends. Hers all shrivelled up and were ruined.

Sorry, everybody. I spoke without really understanding the topic. I hate it when people do that, don't you?

Reviewing the thread, I see that Linda Lou made it totally clear. Nothing more needed to be said.

Jim