8/11/2019 – This journal entry will be left up even though both ferments were a total failure. In both cases, the cucumbers were soft and almost mushy. The dill flavor was lost in the ferment taste. The second ferment was also salty. Maybe, there is a way the pickles could be made via fermenting but at this point, we doubt it will work for us.

7/15/2019 – These two versions are based hopefully on lessons learned from the semi-limp pickles in the July 4th, 2 one-gallon ferments. Those ferments used volume measurements per a recipe and this one will use the percentage of salt based on the weights that worked for us before. We assembled one quart and added the 6% brine and one adding the 7% brine. All other ingredients were the same.

• Enough cucumber slices to fill two quart jars
• 2 large cloves of garlic in each jar, cut in half.
• 2 tsp of dill weed in the bottom of each jar and 3 tsp in the top. This is about 50% more than the July 4th ferment.
• 2 tsp red pepper flakes in each jar
• 1/2 tsp of Mrs. Wages pickle crisp in each jar. This is 2X the recommended value.
• brine made with 6% and 7% canning salt

The intent here is to have crisp dilly pickles that will result from more dill, the correct salt content, and the crisping agent.