Ann, I am so sorry to hear your pickles didn't turn out. Whatever the cause of the spoilage, it's fortunate it wasn't a health issue (glad you're here to post!)

OK, you will have to backtrack through the process and decide which of the following might be the cause; multiple causes are also a possibility, so run through the list and consider all.

1. Spoiled cucumbers. Any possibility of mold or disease, perhaps not apparent on the surface but still present?

Overripe cuumbers can become soft. Also a possibility is moldy garlic or other additions rather than the cucumbers themselves.

2. Contaminated water. Sometimes a possibility if something gets into a well or cistern and dies or water supply is contaminated by flooding. I should add municipal water supplies also experience episodes of contamination.

3. Compromised hygiene. Container, weight not adequately clean. Cucumbers not adequately scrubbed or blossom ends left on. Even with the best of care this can happen if distracted or young children are dabbling little fingers in, household pets, etc.

4. Brine too weak. Measurement error/using other than canning and pickling salt and not allowing for difference in weight.

5. Exposure to air. Mixture can be contaminated if weight does not keep all cucumbers below the surface of the brine.

6. Inadequate skimming of scum or failure to skim.

7. Temperature outside the optimal range - too hot or too cold.

These are all the possibilities I can think of right off the top. Someone else on the Forum may have others.

I guess the only good thing that may come out of this is by going through this you may learn a lot that can be applied to future pickling. I hope you don't give up. Many of us have a pickling failure or two in our past.

Carol

Could it be that they were too warm while fermenting? They MUST be very fresh cukes too. If they are just a few days off the vines, they lose a lot of their crispness, and not much will bring them back. Sorry you had such a time. It may also have been the kind of cuke, or its age that affected them.

Thank you both for your ideas! Carol, what a great list. Everyone trying these pickles should print it out and keep it for reference.

Let's see .... and ks, the questions you asked are included in this too....
1. Spoiled cucumbers. If so, it was inapparent. One batch had been picked the day before, the second batch was used immediately after picking. They certainly appeared to be fine. I am going to be buying some farmer's market cukes, so if they work and all mine do not, I will worry that they might have had some disease. The first batch did not get any garlic or pepper, so I don't think that's the cause either.

2. Contaminated water. I used bottled distilled water.

3. Compromised hygiene. Hmmm, of course I tried to be careful, but maybe something here is a problem. I am a little worried about my jar. I am using these tall glass jars. They are too tall to fit in my dishwasher, so they get washed by hand. I did try to wash well, but maybe didn't do as good a job as I thought. For a weight I fill a Ziploc with brine and put it on top - is this a problem? No little children dipping their fingers in, and DH was out of the house so I can't blame him .

4. Brine too weak. I certainly believe I followed the recipe, but of course could have made a mistake. I would be surprised if I did so twice though. And I do have canning/pickling salt.

5. Exposure to air. Batch 2 did have one pickle that refused to stay submerged. I ended up pulling it out and - ahem - eating it. I would have thought that one sticking out would be a problem for that one, but not the whole batch. It could be a problem for the whole batch? However, batch 1 did not have any pickles above the brine.

6. Inadequate skimming of scum or failure to skim. I'm thinking this may have been part of it. I might have missed a day or two along the way. I will pay more attention with this next batch.

7. Temperature outside the optimal range - too hot or too cold. Should have been between 75 and 78. I know that's a little on the warm side, but should be okay shouldn't it?

Well, the symptoms of botulism usually show up in about 36 hours, so I should be getting blurred vision about now - which I'm not . Although it can take a few days, so I'll keep checking my eyesight.

Yes, this is a learning opportunity. I think the most likely culprits are either the cukes or not skimming enough. Or the cleanliness of the jars or the temperature or .....

Maybe I'll move the next batch to the basement where it's a little cooler. Just harder to skim there. I will definitely skim it more, and I will start a batch with someone else's cukes. We'll figure it out.

Thank you so much for the help.

Ann

Ann,

Definitely the wrong microorganisms got in. The question is how? It gets kind of scientific doesn't it? Like being a detective. I'm really interested in how "boughten" cucumbers do, though now your level of awareness is heightened, so inevitably there will be variables.

One question: You did two batches. Did you prep all your cukes at once and divide into two batches or were they two separate batches? Because that might narrow the possibilities.

Sounds like your temperature is all right. 78 is getting to the top of the range but aside from a softer pickle or speedier fermentation there shouldn't be a problem. Is it possible the room where you had them was warmer than you thought? If you had an extra-warm day or two at the beginning of the fermentation cycle, that could do it.

Water's OK, so forget that one. If it were hard water it could be an issue because lime could reduce acidity to an unsafe level.

Any food-safe plastic bag should be fine. ZipLoc freezer bags right out of the box, not used ones, are good.

One floating pickle can, unfortunately, spoil the whole batch, but you had two batches. I make extra brine to make the sure the pickles are well-covered. Since the little cukes are likelier to "pop up" put them in the bottom and the bigger cucumbers on top. I use a sterile plate as a weight then put a brine bag on top of that.

Skimming - the missing days are a possibility. Once the scum is broken up you can spend a lot of time chasing it around the container. You'll never get it all.

Skimming is critical. One way to deal with it suggested by Linda Ziedrich is to take a clean piece of muslin or several layers of cheesecloth and place them on top of the pickles but under the weight. Then when you lift off the plate and raise the cloth, most of the scum comes with it. Boil the cloth and reuse or replace with a fresh one.

The more air you keep out, the less scum you have to deal with, though traditional European preservers value the yeasts for the flavors they add. It's a trade-off, but if throwing out batches of pickles is the alternative, I'd definitely go for keeping out the air.

Also, aside from the weight and brine bag, did you cover the jars? A clean linen towel or pillowcase is fine, anything to keep out dust and ambient spores.

The mold is interesting if it appeared late in the fermentation cycle. Usually if fermentation is going well, it's not a congenial environment for mold, which is more likely earlier and harmless then if removed promptly. Mold can be a problem if it's too cold (a reason not to use a chilly cellar), the brine is too strong, or the cucumbers aren't well-covered.

Your container and all related tools need to be clean but items washed in soap and water should be fine. That was more of an issue in the past with old crocks; they can be darned difficult to clean and are best sterilized, if possible.

I keep coming back to the cucumbers - either disease, mold or perhaps something missed in the scrubbing. They can harbor a lot of bacteria and if there were something in the field, that's a possibility. It would be interesting to talk to anyone else in your area or at Extension, if that's doable, to see if there have been any issues with cucumber harvests in your area.

Carol

The cukes need that end to be cut off in the beginning. If they have been treated or sprayed with something, that can slso lead to a bad batch. Here, I never spray a thing on my cukes so they just get a good wash and rinse before tipping and pickling. With most vinegar based brine pickles, BOTH end tips need to be removed. I slice off about an 1/8 inch off each end.

I have a question, if you buy farmers market cukes, how can you be sure they are fresh? How long off the vine do you have?
I want to try the sweet pickle recipe again, (First try failed, and it was because my cukes were to big and on the vine to long cuz of rain, and not able to get to them!) I planted more cukes and praying I get more before it gets to cold here!
I would consider buying some, but I thought my chances would be slim that the cukes were picked and brought to market that day!

Also I planted my straight 8's next to my pickle bush, and I think they crossed and that may have had something to do with size!! I'm just guessing here, but sounds reasonable!
Brenda, who is praying for more cukes!

Brenda,
The fruits from your picklers and Straight 8's should be fine this year. They produce whatever the seed was.
If you were to save seeds from these plants that probably got cross-pollinated and plant them next year, the fruits wouldn't be true to what the parent plant is.
Does that make sense?

I rarely save seeds because I don't have the time or energy to make sure they aren't cross-pollinated. I just plant new seeds each year. One exception is if I only planted one variety of something...like my snow peas. There wasn't anything else for them to cross with (if they can cross with spinach, lettuce or radishes, I'm gonna have some really strange stuff next year)!!

Deanna

I don't plant cucumbers. I just don't want to allocate the garden space. It's easier and cheap for me to buy enough for a good batch or two at the farmers market.

As far as freshness, I just ask when they were picked. In fact I found a market where I can call ahead and go in to get some the morning they come out of the field. So except for some driving time they're as fresh as they would be coming out of my garden.

Carol

PrairieLove, I am thinking they got too warm to spoil like that, but it is hard to be 100 % sure.

Ahbee, the fresher picked the better. If they are at all soft and rubbery, then you know they are not fresh. They should be made within 24 hours of picking. I would ask whomever you buy them from. I don't buy the ones in the grocery stores ever. You can soak cucumbers in ice water for a few hours to crispen them up.
It shouldn't matter if yours crossed, since I have used regular cucumbers in the past and they were fine for the pickles. Not as good as pickling cukes, but still good. It seems we did have more hollow ones then, though. The only time I have ever seen a whole batch ruined was when my friend just threw the whole cucumbers into the syrup brine without cutting them up into the chunks.
Good luck on your next batch. Too bad you were not here, my husband is still begging to make them.He thinks they are great fun to make. No one in our family wants them, we all have tons left !