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So far I've been storing my pickles (beans, sliced cucumbers, chillies; pickled in vinegar, not fermented) in the fridge from day zero, not canned, just in jars with a decently airtight sealing push-top lid.

But I like them, so I'm losing a lot of fridge space to them. (Especially because I want to be eating them and also have some pickling away to be ready when they've finished.)

So I wondered if they really need to be in the fridge? They're submerged in a solution of anywhere from 1:1 white vinegar:water to 0:1 (I like vinegar).

Is the lower temperature really taking care of anything that the vinegar (labelled 5% acidity, so final solution is 2.5-5%) wouldn't? As I understand it, the key to safe lacto-fermentation, which is done at room temperature, is to get a good ferment going quickly enough that it gets acidic enough to ward off 'bad bacteria' quickly.

OJFord
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  • https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/11698/do-you-have-to-refrigerate-pickles – dandavis Feb 26 '20 at 22:06
  • I did see that, but I don't think the answer's necessarily the same for commercial pickles as for home, with reasonably known acidity & cooking times etc. - e.g. an answer might be 'fine, as long as everything's boiled for 5mins, and fully covered by a solution of at least 3% acetic acid', which you couldn't possibly say for something bought at a supermarket. It is also about brined pickles rather than 'vinegared'. – OJFord Feb 26 '20 at 22:33

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