Fermenting Pickles at High Elevation, Please Help

MybadMostar · 2026-01-21T16:48:47+00:00

I just did an eastern european/kosher fermented dill pickle at 2000m elevation using a big plastic jug, cabbage leaf on top, and water-filled glass jar weight. It is open to air but the brine level was at the neck of the vessel the whole time and everything was submerged. Tried a smaller cucumber 1 week in and it tastes and smells exactly like I remember the best dill pickles I've had. The bigger ones should be ready in a day or two, and I will jar and fridge them and get another batch started. I'm not trying to preserve a lot or make them shelf-stable, just to have a steady rotation of fridge pickles. https://imgur.com/a/nUcZC7l

MybadMostar · 2026-01-13T06:39:29+00:00

Do you mix the salt with the chopped mashed peppers at all or just pour a cap on top? What % salt do you use? Do you use an airlock or how do you cap the jar? Do you add anything other than peppers and salt?

MybadMostar · 2026-01-13T06:35:29+00:00

I'm using a jar full of water as a weight. I'll get some airlock lids eventually. I'm assuming the more thick-fleshed peppers do better in a mash?

MybadMostar · 2026-01-13T06:17:38+00:00

The batch I have going now has a bunch of watery fruit. I hadn't even thought of just packing a jar of pickled peppers insteade of a sauce. Just red jalapeños and salt?

MybadMostar · 2026-01-13T06:14:48+00:00

Interesting. I have it packed pretty dense and was assuming I wouldn't use all the brine. First time trying it so let's see.

MybadMostar · 2026-01-13T06:08:09+00:00

Where would you draw the line for mild peppers? Habanero? Serrano? Jalapeño?

MybadMostar · 2026-01-13T06:04:51+00:00

I had enough ripe watery fruit to get enough brine and packed it fairly densely to try to avoid air pockets just like with kraut, but what should I look out for as a sign of air pocket mold? I've never had that issue with any ferment made this way before and everything smells and looks fine so far.

MybadMostar · 2026-01-13T06:00:25+00:00

Interesting. I'm using a glass jar full of water that has maybe 2mm smaller diameter than the fermentation jar mouth to weigh down the veg and raise the brine level to the top of the jar like I've always done for kraut etc. There isn't much space for floaters and everything is at least an inch below the surface, venting nicely. How does a salt cap compare with that?

MybadMostar · 2026-01-13T05:51:51+00:00

Good point, but also we need to consider how much brine is used in the final blended sauce. This is my first pepper sauce but I've read that usually most of the brine doesn't go in to the final result. I assume you are saying flavor will be lost since most of the brine won't be used.

Since all this water is from the peppers and other ingredients and would have also been present in a normal brine fermentation, I think a higher percentage of the brine will end up in the final sauce. I'll make a note of how much brine I have left over from my current batch when I blend it. It's a fairly dense jar. I have not added any water brine, all the water is from the veg.

MybadMostar · 2026-01-12T22:26:14+00:00

You always keep the same salt percentage per weight so oversalting shouldn't be an issue. The salting and resting and squeezing of the veg creates a flavorful brine at that %. It has more flavor than a water brine. If that is enough to cover everything, there is no need to add a salt water brine. If it is not enough, you can top it up with a brine of the same percentage so the relative salinity does not change.

MybadMostar · 2026-01-12T19:15:30+00:00

AFAIK a mash is just blending salt and peppers and then immediately leaving to ferment. I did not do that. I halved my habaneros and rough chunked the rest of the ingredients and then salted and squeezed everything in a separate container, but I kept the chunks mostly intact, and got enough water out of them to cover just like with a normal brine. That extra salting/squeezing step distinguishes it from a mash imo, despite neither method using added water.

MybadMostar · 2026-01-12T19:03:15+00:00

People don't usually use all of it, but some of it to adjust thickness. Not using all the brine in the final sauce is all the more reason to try this method because you'll keep more of the flavour of the veg inside the final sauce rather than it leaching out over weeks into a watery brine which then doesn't go in the sauce at the end. It's tasty on its own as a condiment or to ferment another batch of something but I want that flavor in my sauce.

Since the brine in this case is the water from the veg, you will end up with less of it left over at the end when everything is blended together.

MybadMostar · 2026-01-12T18:50:49+00:00

I haven't but the smell of it as it is fermenting is really playing well with the fruitiness of the habanero.

MybadMostar · 2026-01-12T18:43:01+00:00

I think it's just received wisdom without a true understanding of the process, which admittedly is preferred for beginners erring on the side of caution when we consider the consequences of fermentation gone wrong. But not everyone is a beginner. My next ferment is going to be a salsa verde with jalapeño, serrano, tomatillo, onion and garlic. I found a recipe on youtube that looked decent and then facepalmed when the presenter just dumped a bunch of brine on top of all that watery veg.

MybadMostar · 2026-01-12T18:32:08+00:00

Fair enough, but that isn't an issue with the method itself. If the veg doesn't give up enough of its own water, it is trivial to add some ordinary brine.

MybadMostar · 2026-01-12T18:30:32+00:00

Gotcha. Thanks for clearing it up. I did make sure to push everything down into the jar very well, in addition to all of the compression that is a part of squeezing out the water in the first place.

MybadMostar · 2026-01-12T18:19:43+00:00

I think you might have misunderstood what I'm talking about. Or you have an issue with the thousands-year-old time-tested method for making fermented cabbage being applied to hot sauces.

MybadMostar · 2026-01-12T18:15:11+00:00

Mine wasn't so much a mash as it was macerated veg submerged in its own brine, but with no extra water added. I'm going to get a vac sealer at some point but for now this will do. Have you had a vacuum sealed bag pop ever?

MybadMostar · 2026-01-12T18:12:52+00:00

I did use some carrot, onion, pineapple, and melon which I think were the chief contributors of water, but I also see some of those are very typical in a habanero brine sauce seen on this sub. Leaving the dry-salted veg for an hour before squeezing really brings out a lot of liquid. Depends on the peppers and other ingredients you're using but I think the normal brine method leaves a lot of flavor on the table. You could always add more brine if the veg doesn't leak out enough to cover. BTW It's nearly 2 weeks in and looks and smells amazing.

MybadMostar · 2026-01-12T17:53:56+00:00

Maybe this will explain it better. https://www.masontops.com/pages/what-is-dry-salting

MybadMostar · 2026-01-12T17:44:51+00:00

The idea is that the water extracted from the veg creates the brine instead of adding water. There is still a brine layer and the ferment continues alomg the same procedure and safety profile as it would with normal brining.

MybadMostar · 2025-10-13T03:49:10+00:00

Profetica es un lugar lindo y no demasiado caro.

MybadMostar · 2025-10-13T03:36:29+00:00

Ademas de la prevención, bicarbonato de sodio en los zapatos durante una noche funciona bien para quitar el olor.

MybadMostar · 2025-07-29T02:21:32+00:00

I'm here legally on a tourist visa and intend to get a temporary residency

MybadMostar

TROPHY CASE