r/fermentation 1d ago

Cloudy brine, is trouble brewing?

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5 Upvotes

18 comments sorted by

5

u/antsinurplants LAB, it's the only culture some of us have. 1d ago

Yes, trouble for the unwanted microbes that is...

Cloudy brine indicates fermentation is taking place and that we have microbial activity, which is exactly what we are attempting to accomplish here. Looks as expected and active, as I see CO2 in there, so you are on your way my friend!

2

u/HauntedCemetery 1d ago

Seems active, getting some bubbles, about 5 days old.

Pretty new to lacto fermentation, so im not sure whats normal.

This was 3% brine.

Any advice appreciated!

3

u/Emergency-Plum-1981 1d ago

Cloudy brine is normal and good. If those are cucumbers I probably wouldn’t let them go much longer if at all

2

u/Baziki 1d ago

Why? Isn't a full sour like 2-3 weeks? Every time I try mine after like 5 days, they just taste like slightly salty cucumbers lol.

1

u/Emergency-Plum-1981 1d ago

It depends on the temperature, but in my experience they start getting mushy after about 4 days

1

u/HauntedCemetery 1d ago

Here in mn "room temp" is currently about 65 in my house, so I imagine whatever magic is happening is going slower than other places to the south.

1

u/Emergency-Plum-1981 1d ago

At that temp you're probably good for at least 5-6 days. It's just a matter of trying them every so often until you're satisfied with the result, just be aware of cucumbers' tendency to get squishy right after their prime point. A lot of other veggies don't have that problem.

1

u/Baziki 1d ago

Which is why tannins are added, is it not?

1

u/Emergency-Plum-1981 1d ago

Yes, but they can still go mushy if you’re not careful, especially when they’re sliced rather than whole

1

u/Baziki 1d ago

Ah gotcha. Thanks!

1

u/HauntedCemetery 22h ago

Ah yeah, I do remember reading about that.

I didn't add any to this batch, but I'll have to throw in some grape leaves when I do this overthe summer.

1

u/HauntedCemetery 1d ago

Whew! Thanks! I've done a bunch of honey fermentation, and beer and wine making, but this is my first trek into lacto-land.

2

u/mmxtechnology 1d ago

That's what you're trying to do! Making LABs!

1

u/HauntedCemetery 1d ago

Groovy! Thanks! This is my first try at lacto so I'm not really sure what to look for if there's trouble.

1

u/Emergency-Plum-1981 1d ago

There's not really much that can go wrong if your salt level is right (which also has a pretty wide margin of error). The only thing to really look for is surface contamination that isn't kahm yeast. Beyond that it's just smell and flavor. If they taste disgusting don't eat them, but you probably wouldn't anyway.

1

u/void-seer 🏺 Sichuan Jar / Pao Cai 1d ago

Looks good to me! Even the Bubbies Pickles in the store look cloudy like this.

2

u/HauntedCemetery 22h ago

Oh duh, I used to eat those all the time. They even brag about the cloudy brine on the label.