I think you meant to post this on the Harvest Forum since that is where we discussed this before. ;) That is where you'll find Linda Lou and Ken both. Dave

Another day may help at room temps. Only add the table spooon of white vinegar once you are sure they are tasting good. Mix it in too, so its not just at the top. The 'usual' bubbles are not going to happen much until after about 6-7 days. In this case, it may need a bit more time at room temps. Also, add a bit more fresh dill and garlic. Half sours, like the fully fermented are always going to taste a bit salty due to the brine. It can also be due to a bit too much salt. If you cut one of the fermenting cukes open and sample a slice right now, you may find that they have taken on a bit of the salt already, as their color changes from a fresh bright green to a slightly darker green in just a few days.. Cukes are about 85% water, so its like watering down a salty brine too, but if you think its too much salt, adjust it a bit. Bland, with little salt 'taste' is also no fun. Hang in there and give one of them a cut open in the middle and a slice to sample a piece. Yuu can leave them longer than a few days to if you like. If you have air conditioning and temps are at 70-75 degrees, its a little slower to start too. Kind of like what happens to yeast in breads. If left a week to bubble, they usually end up as sour dough. I'll try to walk you through this, unless I see another 'friendly reminder' from guess who... In the future, if you can find the origianl thread for these half sours, that someone else had started opened, it can also give you more insite and a concentration of info regarding these really good pickles. It has my name as the subject title, unless it was censored. BTW, I just picked 10 pounds of pickling cukes!! Nearly medum beat sized radishes, tons of lettuce and lots of broccoli, some at yellow flower stage due to my absence. These are first of many to come. If it were one more day, some cukes would be as big as small watermelons. Pickling cukes LOVE plenty of water. I was in the hospital this weekend and when I was out this morning, there was LOT waiting for me. Bees are plentiful, and are eagerly pollinating. Considering an attempt make a local bee home for them here, if all goes well. Isn't mother nature wonderful.. My grape tomatoes are now at 12 per stem, but still all green.

I made another batch the same way on Saturday, and opened them today. If I burp them daily from now on, can I eat those? And if I made more but burped them daily, or covered them in cheesecloth instead, those would be ok? Like malna I do bend the rules more with fermenting because when done correctly it is inherently safe. The problem here is your weren't done correctly. Had you followed the instructions in the recipe they would probably be ok although it is a somewhat questionable recipe IMO. But yours were sealed instead of left open as they must be for fermentation to take place. That sealing creates a semi-anaerobic environment that encourages the growth of harmful bacteria, CO2 and bacterial by-products that can proliferate within 24-48 hours. And there simply is no way to know if the good lacto-baccillus did or could develop fast enough to overcome the pathogens. So the natural safety mechanism of fermenting was lost. So no, I wouldn't consider them safe to eat but the choice is yours. If you do future batches and use that recipe then do as it instructs with the small jar or use the plastic glove technique or the baggie full of brine technique or the inverted lid with no band or cover the jars with cheese cloth - lots of ways to do it - but do NOT seal the jars closed. It is very important to understand the difference between fermented pickles and quick-pack pickles which is why I included the link above. The two processes are not interchangeable nor can they be combined as you have tried to do. Dave

There are many old family recipes around that have fallen by the wayside over the years due to safety concerns, advances in research, the discovery of new bacteria, and the fact that vinegar used to be much stronger than it is today. Without seeing the exact recipe there is no way to know if your grandmother's recipe was safe or if you were just really lucky. They may have been a fermented pickle packed in water and salt with no vinegar and if the proper amount of salt was used - no problem - except that by today's standards once they finished fermenting they would need to be 1) canned in sealed jars or 2) stored in the refrigerator. Or they may have been a brined pickle (based on the info you gave there is no way to tell) and if so then their safety all depended on how much vinegar she used or if it was diluted with water and how cool the cellar was etc. but by today's standards they would need to be canned into sealed jars or immediately stored in the refrigerator and would have a limited storage life. There are modern recipes available to do them either way available from NCHFP and the size of the cucumber is your choice although it will affect the finished quality - smaller "pickling" cukes giving the best quality. Hope this helps. Dave