UV Light Helps Make Indoor Pickles

UV Light Helps Make Indoor Pickles AG WORLD 31-2-24 Traditionally, kosher sour pickles are fermented in outdoor barrels, where the sun's ultraviolet rays kill the surface yeast. But Jack Nachamkin of Glen Mills, Penn., likes to make his pickles in the basement. At first, he would go down every day and skim the layer of false yeast off the surface of the brine, but then he found a better system. "I finally got the bright idea of shining an ultraviolet sterilizer onto the 20-gallon crock I was using. I was amazed how quickly the surface of the brine cleared up. The musty smell due to the yeast disappeared, and the delicious odor of the dill and garlic brine now fills the basement," he happily reports. "The lamp doesn't have to be on all the time. Two hours a day is enough." Nachamkin bought the UV sterilizer from a colleague who sells commercial large-scale sterilizers for air conditioner units. You could also use an aquarium sterilizer. The photos were made for demonstration by removing part of the full cover needed to keep the pickles from floating out of the brine. This cover has to be in place during the entire process, not only to keep the pickles from floating, but to prevent the UV from sterilizing the brine, which depends on beneficial fermentation microbes. Nachamkin has a favorite recipe for long-term brine: For every 2 1/2 gallons of water, add 3 1/2 cups of salt and 5 cups of vinegar. Make sure the salt is all dissolved. Pickles can remain in this brine and will last all winter. To use them, remove what is needed, and soak them in fresh water to remove excess salt, to taste. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jack Nachamkin, 51 Broomall Lane, Glen Mills, Penn. 19342 (ph 610 455-3897; email jackn1@verizon.net).

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