Floating Pickles!

[JenJRM]

I am making green tomato pickles with cherry tomatoes. I know it is important for the brine to completely cover the tomatoes, but they float, so the tops of the top layer are exposed! Does it matter? Any thoughts on the safety of this? Thanks!

[jvanderh]

Just saw a Chow Tips video that suggested a Ziploc full of water to sit on top. Looked like the perfect solution.

[sunshine842]

It should be a ziploc full of **BRINE**, not water - the water passing through the membrane will alter the salinity.

[jvanderh]

I'm not following you. We're talking a sealed zip top bag, not dialysis tubing. Assuming the bag doesn't leak, the only way your brine would get diluted is if the bag were permeable to water. As you may have noticed, plastic bags are not.

[sunshine842]

see the homemade pickle thread -- all the folks there (who certainly sound like experts) recommend using brine. It's a whole lot easier than losing a batch of pickles because the bag leaked.

Additionally, just because the bag doesn't leak water doesn't mean that in a setup ripe for osmosis (brine on one side, plain water on the other) -- that the salt will not migrate...then there's the whole issue over the thickness and quality of the bag.

[jvanderh]

The leaking thing. . . yeah, maybe. If the brine is just saltwater and it's dirt cheap to fill the bag with brine, sure. Otherwise, I'd probably just double bag it.

Osmosis/diffusion occur where the membrane is permeable to one substance but not the other. The substance that's free to move crosses the membrane. You claimed in your first comment that water would osmose through the plastic. You claimed in your second comment that salt would diffuse through the plastic. However, the plastic bag is permeable to neither salt nor water. If you wanted, you could verify this by dunking a well-sealed bag of plain water into a container of saltwater and leaving it for a while. The bag of water will weigh the same before and after, and the water inside the bag will not taste salty.

[DeppityDawg]

Where I live, ziplock bags are expensive and precious, so I'd prefer to find a less wasteful solution (no pun intended). It could be as simple as sticking a smaller jar or a drinking glass into the mouth of the pickle jar.

[jvanderh]

That would work too. If you use a container with a lid, you could still fill it with water if you wanted to.

Almost missed that chemistry pun :-)

[DeppityDawg]

It depends on your recipe, but if you're doing a simple pickle with no sterilization, then yes, it matters, because the exposed surfaces will grow moldy. Put a small saucer or something on top of the tomatoes with a weight on it. Enjoy your pickles!

[JenJRM]

Yes, it is a simple pickle. I will try that - thanks!