pickle barrel history

From what I've read, people used to pickle cukes in a barrel and keep it all
winter in a cool place. I would like to know the strength of brine you need to
do this. All modern recipes use 5%, but I doubt that is strong enough. Anyone
have an authentic old recipe?

Does anyone know how the salt content ends up? For example, start with 2kg
cukes, and 1l water with 0.1kg salt (10% brine). If cukes are 90% water, and
the salt concentration equalizes, you end up with 0.1/2.8 or about 3.5%. That
seems pretty weak.

Eric Gisin wrote:



I could be wrong but I believe that those were fermented pickles ... my Dad
used to make thme in a crosk -- got as many bad batches as he did good
ones. IIRC, the idea is that the bacteria in the fermentation process kill
themselves (and all bacteria daring to venture within) with alcohol. Then
again, I was no more than 10 years old the last time I saw this done and
have never done it myself.

Bill
--
Zone 5b (Detroit, MI)
I do not post my address to news groups.

I finally found some info by googling "fermented brine pickle". I saw
references to 8/10/12%, and claims that old-time recipes use too much salt.

For reference, 1 cup pure salt is 275g, and in 3 qt/l water you get 9%. Here
are some recipes I found. I think I'll try 8% unless someone knows better.

Encyclopedia of Country Living: 7%.

Fermented Or Brined Pickles: 14%!:
[Only registered users can see links. ]

USDA bulletin 92, 1978: 5%: [Only registered users can see links. ]

"Eric Gisin" <[Only registered users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered users can see links. ]...
| From what I've read, people used to pickle cukes in a barrel and keep it all
| winter in a cool place. I would like to know the strength of brine you need
to
| do this. All modern recipes use 5%, but I doubt that is strong enough.
Anyone
| have an authentic old recipe?
|
| Does anyone know how the salt content ends up? For example, start with 2kg
| cukes, and 1l water with 0.1kg salt (10% brine). If cukes are 90% water, and
| the salt concentration equalizes, you end up with 0.1/2.8 or about 3.5%.
That
| seems pretty weak.
|
|

writing from rfp:

Eric Gisin wrote:

Don't know about percentages, but you can figure it out, I guess.

I use 1 scant tbsp. of kosher salt per cup of boiled and cooled water to
ferment my half-sours.

After the first batch of the summer, I usually use about 1/4 cup of
brine from the previous batch as a starter (our cool summers necessitate
this, I do the same for kim chi).

For olives, I make a brine strong enough for an egg to float.

B/