Now you know why I still insist on using a steam canner as its mainly for the quick heat processing needed to help keep cukes from getting cooked and turning mushy. I consider that mine are safe even if the full strength acid level were diluted with the water from the vegetables in the jars. A 50:50 mix of water and vinegar are never going to be the same acidicty once the vegetables release their water, so how sure are we that its still safe? I would expect that if it were very tightly packed, the diluted vinegar would be less than 50% once the vegetables released their water (hence the initial wrinkling), so addition of more acid would help to keep the acid level high enough to remain safe to consume. Not liking the taste of vinegar is fine, but when your dealing with home canning and pickling, vinegar is a very important ingredient to use, and can make things pickled in it much safer to consume, if you also take into consideration the amount of acid thats in the final product after its cured. I bet that some people could have over packed jars, mixed a 50:50 water vinegar ratio, and canned these things, without really knowing the end result of the amount of acid in the brine. Even a home canned pickle CAN have bacteria that can make someone sick, or worse, even die..

After reading comments here.. I went back through my processing notes to make sure I knew which jars they were. Turns out they are lacto-fermented jars, not processed jars. I was thinking of the wrong batch when I wrote earlier. It had been a long few days of processing several bushels into various stuff. So what I did was at the end of the canning night- I water bath pickled a few jars of green cherry tomatoes, and was pretty wiped out to do another batch.I brought the jars up to a brief boil while I prepped up the tomatoes. Pulled jars out of hot water,. into each jar went 2t mustard seed, 1t peppercorns, 1t dill seed , 1/2t hot pepper flake, 1 bay leaf, and a couple small whole fresh garlic cloves. Brine was 10 cups water, and 50 grams of salt, I used 30 grams of canning salt, and 20 grams of large flake sea salt. Brought briefly up to a boil and salt added in, then cooled down to room temp before pouring over the tomatoes. Weights went into the top of the jars, then the jars got capped with clean coffee filters bonnets. Sat on the counter for 4 days or so till they stopped bubbling. Then they got their solid cap and ring, and went into the back of the fridge. This was in October. I think I'm a bit alarmed because this is the first time doing something like this has resulted in a cloud like it has. I regularly will lacto-ferment carrots, and have done summer squash. And I have fridge pickled a whole ton of stuff. And of course hot water bath processing, but that's a whole nother pickle. But never seen a cloud before. Good to know it seems like a good thing and not a yucky thing.

It’s so great to see other’s sharing my enthusiasm for pickles! (Never thought that sentence would come out of my mouth!) Notes – what I’ve found in my very limited experience: • I used (all 10) garlic cloves rather than bay leaves as I didn’t want them to compete in flavor and we’re rather garlic crazy around here… can’t really taste the garlic flavor, it’s incredibly mild. I think what one adds (bay leaves, chilis, etc. would be a fantastic way to alter and change the taste) • Anything without skin seems to absorb more brine: the cuke’s were sliced, so they were far more ‘pickly’ while the red onion and carrots are very mild (I’m not one to eat chunks of red onion, but these were amazing! I cut the tips of my beans so they’d absorb more brine. I’d say anything in ribbons will absorb more brine as well, and perhaps won’t stay crunchy as long, not that it'd last! • I can’t believe I forgot okra… I LOVE PICKLED OKRA! • I was curious about the “3 month” storage, and found this from the University of Wisconsin-Extension Cooperative Extension: “Refrigerator pickles” Some pickle recipes that call for enough vinegar (5 percent acetic acid) can be stored safely in the refrigerator at 40° F or colder for up to 1 month. These pickles do not require heat processing, but they must be kept refrigerated. Do not decrease the amount of vinegar in these recipes; an unsafe product may result. BTW, I boiled water and sanitized the jars and lids prior to filling them, and made sure the brine covered the veggies completely. However, Alton Brown’s recipe for Bread and Butter pickles reads they will last up to 2 months. sleevendog, I now know what you mean by a wide bowl to pick out your favorites! Our pickles are not lasting… 3 quart jars and DH and I have eaten 1 ½ jars in a little over 2 days! We normally only eat pickled okra, and that’s with our salads. Thanks so much for the inspiration!

I've only done lacto-fermented pickles and refrigerator pickles. I've eaten store-bought kinds as well. Here are my preferences: Chile sauce (lacto-fermented, with vinegar added; cooked before fermentation; add probiotics before fermentation, after it cools sufficiently from cooking, but while it's still very warm) Radishes (lacto-fermented, without vinegar added; they turn pink/red inside) Peppers (with cardamom added; probably any kind of pepper pickle, almost) Sauerkraut (never made it, but I like it; it's pickled cabbage, lacto-fermented) Sempervivum (I think tectorum; lacto-fermented, without vinegar added) Carrots (lacto-fermented without vinegar added) Some of those I tried with/without vinegar I haven't tried the other way. I also like to use the brine from previously lacto-fermented stuff to make refrigerator pickles out of cheese strips. I'm not a fan of lacto-fermented large zucchini with vinegar added, although I like raw zucchini. I'm not fond of store-bought pickled cactus pad strips, but I like unpickled ones in stir fry. I like dill pickles, but I don't like sweet pickles that much (sweet pickles are okay in very small amounts). I like to use left-over dill pickle brine from store-bought pickles to refrigerator pickle stuff. I haven't historically added a lot to flavor my pickles (although I might prefer it). I want to lacto-ferment Jerusalem artichokes (and try adding some to other ferments, to speed the process).