Cloudy Brine-Is the sediment okay? Pickle Juice-Is it all the same?

Dear Readers,

Sediment in a ferment is one of the most common questions I get. Most commercial pickles are suspended in a white vinegar solution which is clear. Some of these, especially when you are seeing small batch various vegetable quick pickles, have been pickled in the vinegar solution. However, the average grocery store cucumber pickle started as a facto-fermented pickle. More on that in a minute but what this all means is that we are accustomed to seeing our pickled vegetables visible and bright with no cloudy or sediment obstructing them from view. It is only natural that we are concerned when we make a salt brine based ferment and see the pretty clear salt brine slowly turn more and more cloudy.

This is what we are going to talk about today. This post is part Help Desk and honestly part nerdy. Let’s start with a little fun fact.