Was given this jar of pickles. The cloudiness has gotten worse and worse over the last week and, when I picked the unopened jar up off the counter today, there was the brining liquid ring under the jar.
Toss or ? TIA 😊

by ithasallbeenworthit

7 Comments

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  2. InnocuousUnicorn

    When in doubt, throw it out. Sounds like it’s fermenting and leaking

  3. Looks like a gem jar and Bernardin stopped making lids for them a few years back (although I’ve seen ForJars now has some)…how was it canned? With new lids or the rubber gasket/glass lid? Ask if these are meant to be shelf stable…the cloudiness (and seepage) could mean they are fermented pickles (which would require refrigeration). I wouldn’t consume these without further details of how they were prepared.

  4. BoozeIsTherapyRight

    I’d toss them. The liquid under the ring makes me think they came unsealed but then the ring held the lid down and made a false seal.

    This is like a poster child for the reason you take the rings off when you store home canned goods.

    When in doubt, toss it out. And there’s a lot of doubt here.

  5. Shadow_Integration

    Nope, not safe. Especially if there’s liquid escaping the jar – that means that the seal is broken and that it’s started fermenting. The other evidence is the cloudiness. While salt with caking agents can cause this, I’d wager it’s more likely to be lactobacillus starting to colonize the mixture and is already starting to create a scobie.

    Easiest test? Put the jar in the sink, take off the ring, and then slowly try to pick up the jar by the lid. If the lid easily comes off just by picking it up like this, it immediately needs to be tossed.

  6. milksop_USA

    They look fermented, pickled at room temp in a salt solution. Its the same process that makes sourkrout. You should ask how they were prepared. This type of food preservation is the opposite of canning. If it is fermented the jar will likely get more milky as it progresses and be at positive pressure, so its no surprise it leaked. If that is the process that’s going on here, and you should confirm that it is actually lacto-fermented, as long as it isn’t moldy that gang at r/fermentation will say its fine.

    No way anyone in the canning community who doesn’t understand the fermentation process will say its ok to consume.

  7. Sad_Goose3191

    My husband makes lacto-fermented pickles that look just like this. He uses a mason jar because it’s easy, and it needs to be “burped” while it’s fermenting, or the gases will build up and cause leakage. I would hope if someone gave you fermenting pickles they would have explained the process to you, best to ask them to confirm.

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