Hi /r/pickling! I'm new here. I've made a couple of small batches of refrigerator pickles to try out different recipes; I've found some I like and want to make larger batches, but have some questions. Thanks for your help!
My basic process is to pour boiling brine over sliced cucumbers (grown in my garden!) in sterilized jars containing my pickling spices (which vary). I know I do t have to sterilize them, but it's not hard to do. The non-sweet brine is a half-and-half apple cider/water with 2T kosher salt per cup of brine. I also tried a sweetened brine with full-strength ACV, the same salt ratio, and brown sugar (half a cup per cup of brine).
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Currently my cucs are coming in at about 1.25 lb each week, not a lot, but of course their size varies. I don't care about that, but I care about their age. I don't want them to yellow or turn bitter. Is it ok to pick a ripe cucumber (rather than let it over-ripen on the vine) and let it sit on the counter until the weekend when I have time to prep them? Should they be refrigerated? I don't have central A/C so it can get pretty warm in the kitchen during the day, 80-85F.
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Can I slice the cucs and add them to a half-full jar already in the fridge? Or is pouring boiling brine over them an important part of the process? I suspect it is... Is this "semi-sterilization" in place of actual canning?
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In my opinion, the amount of sugar I used was too sweet; can I reduce this significantly (maybe to 1 or 2T per cup of brine) and use the half-strength vinegar recipe, or does that enter some territory where undesirable fermentation will occur?
Thanks in advance, again!
Submitted June 12, 2016 at 11:24PM by m4gpi http://ift.tt/28v1WDW pickling
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