I make 9 day sweet pickles, at day 8 my daughter ended up in the hospital, so I let the pickles sit in the vinegar/candy brine.

All kinds of things happened for the following 2 weeks and I had no chance to get to the pickles.

I just opened the enamel pot, doggonit, the top layer of pickles absorbed the brine and are dry. No mold, cukes are crispy.

Should I toss out the top layer and process the submerged pickles? Hate to lose this batch, the farmer specially picked these and delivered them to me right after harvest.

They were salt brined for 3 days and desalted for 2 days, then the vinegar/sugar brine was added.