When the barrel is full, add 3 pounds of salt each week for five weeks (15 pounds to a 45-gallon barrel). In adding the salt, place it on the cover. Added in this way it goes into solution slowly, insuring a brine of uniform strength throughout and a gradually increasing salt concentration. Thus, shriveling of the pickles is prevented to a great extent and the growth and activity of the lactic bacteria are not seriously checked.
Stirring or agitation of the brine may be harmful for the reason that the introduction of air bubbles is conducive to the growth of spoilage bacteria.
From time to time remove the scum which forms on the surface.
Where cucumbers are grown extensively for the production of pickles, curing is done in large tanks at salting stations. While it involves certain details of procedure not required in barrel quantities, this method of curing is essentially the same.
PROCESSING
After being cured in brine, pickles must receive a processing in water to remove the excess of salt. If they are to be used as salt pickles, only a partial processing is required. If, however, they are to be made into sour, sweet, or mixed pickles, the salt should be largely, but not completely, removed. Pickles keep better when the salt is not entirely soaked out.
Under factory conditions, processing is accomplished by placing the pickles in tanks, which are then filled with water and subjected to a current of steam, the pickles being agitated meanwhile. In most homes, however, the equipment for such treatment is not available.
The best that can be done in the home is to place the pickles in a suitable vessel, cover them with water, and heat them slowly to about 120° F., at which temperature they should be held for from 10 to 12 hours, being stirred frequently. The water is then poured off, and the process is repeated, if necessary, until the pickles have only a slightly salty taste.
SORTING