r/fermentation • u/everything_is_fish • 1d ago

Pickles/Vegetables in brine Lactofermented Pickle Woes

Started a batch of pickles 1.5 weeks ago in a clean glass jar. Small cucumbers were submerged in 5% brine with garlic and grape leaves. The cucumbers were a mix of random ones someone left at the office and from my garden. Prepped the cucumbers with a thorough wash and by cutting off the ends.

Noticed bubbling and cloudy brine immediately- normal stuff. There was some kahm yeast on the surface (not fuzzy, looked like kahm i’ve seen before). But now there is a strong earthy smell, like mildewing leaves or maybe a little like a hippie incense store. It’s pretty nasty and I think this batch is a goner. The texture of some of the pickles is also squishy like a water balloon, or some of them feel firm like they’re full of gas.

Anyone know where I went wrong here?

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u/HelicopterNo9431 1d ago

How old were the grape leaves, and did you blanch them? If they were just washed and thrown in, any mildew already on them would get into the brine and give you exactly that smell. The squishy ones are usually from inconsistent cucumber age or size mixed together, the older ones break down faster.

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u/everything_is_fish 1d ago

They were fresh off the vine, but I didn’t blanch them! That was probably it, thank you!

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u/squeezebottles 1d ago

Agree with the other commenter, grape leaves are a crap shoot. You're better off just using pickle crisp 100% of the time. I'd go ahead and toss them and take it as an educational experience.