Hey all! My grandma got me one of these for my birthday: http://eckraus.com/26-gallon-variable-c ... teel-tank/ and I've finally gotten around to a ferment large enough to justify its use. I put about 15 gallons of pickle-sized cukes in. I washed them, scraped the ends, used grape leaves and brine of the right concentration. It should have worked, but they turned to mush. I know there are commercial operations using the exact same vessels, so it seems unlikely that it's a steel thing -- but it's my first ever ferment that wasn't in glass or vitrified clay.
Any thoughts?