Fermented Bread and Butter Pickles

Since Ellie's comment hasn't been answered yet, I wanted to volunteer the information in case anyone else was concerned. I've got a real passion for food science!

Not all fermentation requires yeast. This is an example of lactic acid fermentation. Rather than yeast, it is primarily the lactobacillus bacteria in the whey eating the sugar and doing the flavoring. With proper preparation, this recipe should be completely free of yeast, barring contamination from the air. Your whey should be fresh and not sitting exposed on the counter to gather yeast. Wash the produce well. Screw the jar lid on tightly, etc...

As to the honey being antibacterial: That's only true of straight up honey, not aqueous solutions or other diluted mixtures of it. All sugars are antibacterial in high enough concentration, but not this one, and especially not for the friendly bacteria in the whey that LOVE sugar. It's also got a tiny bit of hydrogen peroxide, but hydrogen peroxide is a pretty weak sanitizing agent. The small amount in the honey added to the recipe will quickly break down into water and oxygen in the brine, the latter of which will rise above the baggie of water. The beneficial probiotics will be absolutely fine.

Thanks for the recipe! Looking forward to making my own. I don't have access to grape leaves, though. Hope they don't turn out too mushy without.

I have concerns about using honey in any ferment because it is antibacterial in nature. I'm a bit worried that honey would result in feeding all the yeast and killing all the beneficial bacteria. I also understand that will sauerkraut, there are three distinct stages of ferment, the first being a yeast stage, and the last being the stage that results in the good bacteria. That takes weeks, so I'm wondering what sort of bacteria are resulting from this particular ferment over a three-day period? Being someone who is extremely sensitive to yeast but absolutely needs the benefits of probiotic pickling, I would need to know what I would be growing before I could try this.

Hi, I am just wondering how long this will last out of the fridge unopened?

I made these and love the flavor. I did put in a grape leave (and a bay leaf) but they are mushy. I did ferment for over a week as I left town however; could this have caused the mush? Also can I try this recipe with whole pickles and then cut when they are fermented to avoid mushiness?

I love Bread & Butter Pickles, but have always been disappointed that the ones in the store have no probiotics in them, even the ones from companies that sell Dill Pickles with probiotics like Bubles, so I was thrilled to come across this recipe.

I made up two batches of these. I used a larger Fido Jar for the first batch, perhaps a quart and a half, and a 1 quart wide mouth mason jar for the 2nd and used 1/2 cup of Pure Dark Amber Maple Syrup in both, along with the celery seed, turmeric, and whole yellow mustard seeds.

It's been 5 days now, and I gave them a taste this evening to see how they were coming along and was surprised to find there was no sweetness to them at all. I absolutely added 1/2 cup of the syrup to each mix, as the recipe indicated, but after 5 days of fermenting, there is absolutely no sweetness that I can taste at all.

Have you run into this before...? Do I need to pour out a bit of the brine perhaps and add another 1/2 cup of syrup to each jar...? What would you suggest...? I'm a bit disappointed at the moment, as I had been so looking forward to getting some good sweet and sour chips with the probiotics that I've been looking for for so long, but from what I tasted this evening, right now this recipe isn't doing it... I'd appreciate any suggestions that might help make this recipe turn out right...

Thx...

Can this be made without using whey? Is there a non-dairy substitute?