Assuming you already know that the original recipe would be considered unsafe anyway with such a small amount of vinegar (1:1 is lowest approved ratio of vinegar to water) but have chosen to accept that level of risk then all you can do with what you call the mistake batch is replace the brine after opening the jars. Perhaps add a bit of sugar as well. How much taste benefit that might provide would be minimal as the cukes will have already absorbed much of the vinegar. The mistake batch is by far the safest batch for shelf storage and personally those are the ones I'd keep and toss the original recipe batch. The pH in those jars made with the 4:1 ratio of water to vinegar can quickly rise into the unsafe range as the water from the cukes dilutes the brine even further. But of course the choice is yours. Dave

Slimy usually indicates spoilage and insufficient salt in the brine. Because cukes give off water and enzymes they do make a slightly cloudy brine eventually. Grape leaves do nothing for that pickle, even though some say it helps a little for crispness but just for vinegar brines. Quartering the cukes, tends to make them get softer faster. I make a half sour version, but use a Mrs. Wages dill pickle mix that gives me more dill taste. I use both fresh dill weed and dill seed heads when they are swelled and green. I don't add onions, as they exude sulfur and can also cause cloudy brines. Garlic is OK, but I cut up the cloves into small pieces. Mine dont get any kind of gas lock, just a loose fitting lid and ring. I use half gallon Ball jars. After about 3 days, they get a couple of tablespoons of vinegar and then are placed in the fridge. Been doing mine this way for many years now and actually can taste when the salt and water ratio is at the right level. Learned that from my Polish grandmother, who had a big gallon jar going all summer long. Usually its not recommended to add more cukes after the batch has been started. Always be sure to cut off the BLOSSOM ENDS of every cuke, as they contain a strong enzyme not good in pickles. I also cut off the stem ends too, and that makes them cure a bit faster. When my batches are made, I don't touch them for at least a month in the fridge. I usually still have some left the following summer if I ration them. Never use any other salt but pickling. Some Kosher could be used, but its a different size of granule and more is needed if measured by the cup. Kosher salt can also contain silicone dioxide or iodine, both are not recommended in salt brine based pickles. Pickling salt has no additives of any kind. Suggest that you do a SEARCH within this forum for the many hundreds of posts about fermented pickles. The search would need just a couple of key words like the following: "fermented pickles". Very easy to do, and you can read and post witin the previous posts instead of creating a new post for an already discussed subject. Virtually every facet of fermented pickle issues has been discussed. Once a new post shows up like this one, the oldest ones get pushed off the other end, and are lost forever. The closest meausurement of water to brine is 5.5 ounces of pickling salt to a gallon of water. Anything less is not going to ferment properly and you will not get a good lactic acid fermentation.

Answer/cause depends a lot on how much liquid is left in the jars. Siphoning is with pressure canning. With BWB, if much of the liquid is gone and much of the food is exposed, it's called "boil-over" from the food expanding and forcing liquid out of the jar if it is over-packed. Recommend loosely packing - you want each piece to have liquid contact - and be sure all the air is removed from the jar before processing. But if only a small amount of the liquid is "missing" and only a small amount of the food is exposed it is due to either air left in the jars or "floating". Many foods float due to the air in them. As the air is exchanged for liquid the foods gradually sink. Either way they are safe. The exposed ones may darken and can be pitched when you open the jar. Dave

It couldn't possibly be 1/2 part salt because that would be a pint of salt to a quart of water, which would be unbearable in a brine - like swallowing the Dead Sea. Or if it's an overnight soak (salt sprinkled on the veggies and left to rest) a salt level that high would shrivel the veggies into dessicated wrinkled little specimens. It would have to be 1/2 cup but the "cup" has been left out - a typo. I'm also suspicious of recipes that call for a measure of "coarse salt." That's not standard nomenclature for reliable pickling recipes, which normally call for canning and pickling salt. If it's a fermented pickle generally a reliable recipe will go by weight rather than measure, in which case an unadulterated kosher salt (i.e. Diamond Crystal) could be substituted. I agree with Chase. There are all kinds of pickle recipes on the internet and many of them are questionable for quality and/or food safety. You have to know a lot about pickling to tell the difference; it's especially important if you're planning for shelf-storage. If you're refrigerating them and just making a pint or so, it's less of an issue. Not much waste if it doesn't turn out and minimal risk because of the refrigeration. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Harvest Forum