Quote:
Originally Posted by BucksCountyGirl
Good for you Worth! You are correct, as long as you have quality stainless steel you are fine. Many artisinal pickle producers use stainless steel fermenters.
A thought about heating fermented pickles...it may actually cause them to spoil faster unless you are going to fully HWB can them. By heating the brine you will be killing off much of the bacteria that is protecting your cukes. If the PH in your brine has not been sufficiently lowered you could develop spoilage and off flavors/textures.
Personally I want to keep the good bugs (for probiotic reasons...I have been off my acid reflux meds for over a year!) and I also like the option of preserving at cool room temp until I am ready to eat.
I let the pickles ferment until all bubbling stops, then I change out my airlock for a regular lid and keep them in my cool dark pantry. I find that the flavors mellow out and blend better over time. I do keep the current jar we are eating from in our fridge because I prefer my pickles cold and crisp!
Most important steps by far for crisp pickles are to trim off the blossom end of your cukes before you ferment (enzymes there cause mushy results) and to seek out some high tannin leaves (horseradish, black current, cherry, oak, etc). You will be amazed at the difference in your finished product.
I have had jars in my pantry for over 8 months that suffered no loss of texture or flavor.
For resources, I suggest the book Fermented Vegetables by Kristen and Christopher Shockey as well as any books or website info from Sandor Katz.
Sorry for the long pickle post...they are obviously something very near and dear to my heart!  |
Thanks.
I have studied stainless for quite some time and there is a lot of miss information about it.
What I have is 1810 stainless.
1810 is not magnetic but can be a little under work hardening.
The one small pot I do have that is magnetic doesn't have 1810 stamped on it.
This is not to say that the bottoms aren't magnetic as they are try clad and that part is so they will work on an induction cook top.
I dont even know why I bothered I have been brining meat in them for a long time.
Worth