There are refrigerator pickles to avoid, but this one doesn't fall into that category. I compared the recipe with a similar one from The Joy of Pickling, which is a reliable book. Linda Ziedrich's pickle is 3:1 water to vinegar while Ted Allen's is 2:1, so his brine is well within the safe range. There are two aspects of this recipe I would disagree with. He says to pack the vegetables tightly, but it's important in any pickle recipe that the vegetables are thoroughly bathed in the brine. I would rather make additional solution and pack a looser mixture for a more secure sense of safety. You don't want dry areas where one vegetable is jammed up against another. For the same reason, I wouldn't want the pieces of vegetable to be too big, reducing the penetration of the brine. Ziedrich says one month to age and one month beyond that, a timeline I'm comfortable with. Three months seems a little long. You can see Ziedrich's recipe at the Google Books link. Just be prepared to struggle with the yellow print. Her book is highly recommended for anyone with a serious interest in pickling and all her recipes are verified. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Armenian Mixed Pickles

I made this recipe a couple of days ago, and I've made it several times since first reading this thread. This is my own version of refrigerator pickles: For the brine: 2 cups water 10-12 cloves garlic, peeled 2 cups white vinegar 3 Tbsp kosher salt Several sprigs of fresh dill (can substitute 1 Tbsp dill seed, if necessary) 1 teaspoon celery seed 1 Tbsp coriander seed 1 teaspoon mustard seed 6-9 Bay leaves For the vegetables: 6 cucumbers, halved lengthwise and ends removed (about 1-1/2 pounds) 1 carrot, cut into eighths, lengthwise (trim to length for jars) 1/2 onion sliced horizontally into strips 1-3 Habanero chilies (to taste – can use Cayenne instead for less heat) In a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups water to a boil, reduce the heat so the water simmers and add the garlic. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and salt, raise the heat and bring to a boil, stirring until the salt dissolves. Remove from the heat. In 2 clear 1-quart jars, place a few sprigs of dill. Divide the seeds and peppercorns between the jars. Using tongs, remove the garlic from the brine and place 4-5 cloves in each jar. Then pack the jars full of cucumbers, carrots, onions, and chiles. You want them to be tightly stuffed. Add the Bay leaves last, as they will easily slip into the jars when full of vegetables. Use 3 Bay leaves per jar. Bring the brine back to a boil, pour it over the vegetables to cover completely, let cool, then cover and refrigerate. I vacuum seal them with the jar attachment of a FoodSaver. The pickles will taste good in just a few hours, better after a couple of days. And they'll keep for about 2 months if vacuum sealed, although I generally use them in one month. This time I had to use part coconut vinegar because I did not have enough white vinegar, and I was also out of rice vinegar, except for red and black, neither of which I would use for this. I did buy another gallon of white vinegar the other day, so that I will have it on hand for more pickles. I got the cucumbers at the farmers' market and will go again soon for more. I'm posting this because cucumbers should be in season now. I did use some "pickling seasoning mix" from the grocery store instead of coriander and mustard seeds, as that was what it mostly contained. I haven't tasted them yet, but I'll let you know how the coconut vinegar worked out.

Sorry I am not disputing the length of time required for fermenting or that foods in the process of fermenting cannot sit out for long periods of time. You are correct that the current NCHFP guidelines allows for that. My point was that fermented pickles sitting out is very different situation from brined pickles sitting out and the original question was about vinegar brined pickles. So the fact that fermenting pickles can safely sit out does NOT mean that brined ones can. Brined foods have a 24 hour limit per the guidelines. However I did misspeak when I said "approx. 7 days". What I meant to say was that is the recommended MINIMUM fermentation time. Clearly many foods are fermented longer. Listeria, if it is present, can eventually grow in anything, even fermented foods. The testing done in 2010 and published by NCHFP established that listeria can grow in both high acid and low acid environments, both high temp and low temps. It is only the rate of growth that is affected by those conditions. It is the reason NCHFP pulled many of its so-called "refrigerator pickles" recipes that were brined and left out on the counter and reduced the fridge storage life for several other things. Hope this clarifies. Dave

The question wasn't whether I would feel comfortable eating them, it was whether the pickles are safe. Because they are refrigerator pickles and because, as a gardener, I've been known to take one of those cucumbers, dust it off, maybe run it under the hose, and then eat it right there, I'd say you are probably safe eating the pickles, at least as safe as I am in the garden, LOL. I doubt the jars were touched much by humans, they were probably manufactured and the lids added at the factory by machines/robots, wrapped up in that shrink wrap and sent out on pallets. The lids would be dirtier than the jars and your 50/50 vinegar to water brine should help get rid of some of the "stuff", if it's there. There is still the "ick" factor, I'd be wondering who touched those jars and what was on their hands... Annie