OT- Lacto Fermentation Fun- Peppers and Sriracha

SciAggie

Once you start you’ll be hooked. 

JethroBodeen

@GATraveller Jump in with both feet. You wont regret it..

SciAggie

I have enough sauerkraut to last for a while. Now it’s time to make some more hot sauce. 

pH is about 3.5 so that’s good. 

I used Star San in every before I made this batch. After 3 weeks not a speck of Kahm yeast. 

lkapigian

@SciAggie I have heard of but never used Star San, will have to give that a try

JethroBodeen

What you got in the kraut? cabbage and carrots?

SciAggie

Got some mustard into the queue... Ferment one week, refrigerate for two before eating. 

GATraveller

I have some Amazon $ so I see a fermenting crock in my near future!! 

SciAggie

JethroBodeen said:

What you got in the kraut? cabbage and carrots?

You guessed it. It’s not complicated. Cabbage, carrots, and a 3% brine. I let it go for 3 weeks. 

SciAggie

@lkapigian I mixed a full 5 gallons of StarSan (1 oz makes 5 gallons). I soaked the entire crock, lid, and weights for the recommended time - I think it was 2 minutes of full immersion. Then you drain the pieces but don’t wipe them. I did that first and then by the time I had my cabbage processed the crock was almost dry. I just packed it all in after that. 

Also, I’m learning not to “peek” at my ferments. I just let it go the whole 3 weeks without lifting the crock lid. That probably is helping with the yeast problem as well. 

lkapigian

GATraveller said:

I have some Amazon $ so I see a fermenting crock in my near future!! 

I have 2 of the 5 Litre 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JG77G8M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

lkapigian

SciAggie said:

@lkapigian I mixed a full 5 gallons of StarSan (1 oz makes 5 gallons). I soaked the entire crock, lid, and weights for the recommended time - I think it was 2 minutes of full immersion. Then you drain the pieces but don’t wipe them. I did that first and then by the time I had my cabbage processed the crock was almost dry. I just packed it all in after that. 

Also, I’m learning not to “peek” at my ferments. I just let it go the whole 3 weeks without lifting the crock lid. That probably is helping with the yeast problem as well. 

Thanks @SciAggie, yes opening the lid release the trapped C02 and introduces oxygen 

SciAggie

@lkapigian That looks like the one I have and I like it.

 I also started elevating the base a little bit to allow some air flow under the crock. It has a habit of being a bit moist underneath if I don’t and sometimes some funk will grow on the bottom of the crock. 

lkapigian

SciAggie said:

@lkapigian That looks like the one I have and I like it.

 I also started elevating the base a little bit to allow some air flow under the crock. It has a habit of being a bit moist underneath if I don’t and sometimes some funk will grow on the bottom of the crock. 

I will say for those with Crocs, you will see at time you water seal is suddenly dry. What is going on is it is siphoning ( i think )  into the crock when a large temp change happens IE a cool nigh then warm day in the room....not a pig deal but if you are only putting water in the seal, if this happens a lot it can dilute your brine, my brine level does rise when this happens  

In my area when the season changes this can happen a few times a week

Just something to look @ if you see the water seal suddenly dry 

fishlessman

lkapigian said:

SciAggie said:

@lkapigian That looks like the one I have and I like it.

 I also started elevating the base a little bit to allow some air flow under the crock. It has a habit of being a bit moist underneath if I don’t and sometimes some funk will grow on the bottom of the crock. 

I will say for those with Crocs, you will see at time you water seal is suddenly dry. What is going on is it is siphoning into the crock when a large temp change happens IE a cool nigh then warm day in the room....not a pig deal but if you are only putting water in the seal, if this happens a lot it can dilute your brine

In my area when the season changes this can happen a few times a week

Just something to look @ if you see the water seal suddenly dry 

i keep a bottle of salted water next to my mason fermenter, basically the same design as the crock

SciAggie

lkapigian said:

SciAggie said:

@lkapigian That looks like the one I have and I like it.

 I also started elevating the base a little bit to allow some air flow under the crock. It has a habit of being a bit moist underneath if I don’t and sometimes some funk will grow on the bottom of the crock. 

I will say for those with Crocs, you will see at time you water seal is suddenly dry. What is going on is it is siphoning ( i think )  into the crock when a large temp change happens IE a cool nigh then warm day in the room....not a pig deal but if you are only putting water in the seal, if this happens a lot it can dilute your brine, my brine level does rise when this happens  

In my area when the season changes this can happen a few times a week

Just something to look @ if you see the water seal suddenly dry 

I’ve noticed that as well. I like your hypothesis about why it happens. Usually it is the same - everything is good, then the trough is low in the morning. That was my big motivation for checking the pH closely. I had some concern that the diluted brine may have allowed the pH to creep up. That wasn’t an issue. It was still salty (by taste) as well. It seems the dilution isn’t significant. 

lkapigian

SciAggie said:

lkapigian said:

SciAggie said:

@lkapigian That looks like the one I have and I like it.

 I also started elevating the base a little bit to allow some air flow under the crock. It has a habit of being a bit moist underneath if I don’t and sometimes some funk will grow on the bottom of the crock. 

I will say for those with Crocs, you will see at time you water seal is suddenly dry. What is going on is it is siphoning ( i think )  into the crock when a large temp change happens IE a cool nigh then warm day in the room....not a pig deal but if you are only putting water in the seal, if this happens a lot it can dilute your brine, my brine level does rise when this happens  

In my area when the season changes this can happen a few times a week

Just something to look @ if you see the water seal suddenly dry 

I’ve noticed that as well. I like your hypothesis about why it happens. Usually it is the same - everything is good, then the trough is low in the morning. 

Its probably more of a barometric pressure thing , but it is on those "weather change days" and the pressure in the room overcomes the pressure in the Croc

first couple times i was "WTF" 

SciAggie

lkapigian said:
first couple times i was "WTF" 

Lol, me too. 

SciAggie

Bottled my first batch of Kombucha. Flavor is strawberry lime. I’ll go 18 hours on the secondary ferment and see how much carbonation I get. It tastes good. pH came out right at 3.5 so that is good. Overall easy peasy to make. 

lkapigian

SciAggie said:

Bottled my first batch of Kombucha. Flavor is strawberry lime. I’ll go 18 hours on the secondary ferment and see how much carbonation I get. It tastes good. pH came out right at 3.5 so that is good. Overall easy peasy to make. 

That looks amazing 

SciAggie

lkapigian said:

That looks amazing 

I ran some fresh strawberries through a food mill and gave each bottle the juice of 1/2 a lime. Each bottle got 1/4 cup or so of strawberry puree. We’ll see in a day or so...

JethroBodeen

New batch of hot sauce. This time with some pineapple....

lkapigian

SciAggie said:

lkapigian said:

That looks amazing 

I ran some fresh strawberries through a food mill and gave each bottle the juice of 1/2 a lime. Each bottle got 1/4 cup or so of strawberry puree. We’ll see in a day or so...

Looks refreshing @sciaggie

lkapigian

JethroBodeen said:

New batch of hot sauce. This time with some pineapple....

Have yet to try pineapple in there, should be an active ferment with that extra sugar 

lkapigian

Don't throw your mash away...50/50 mix of Kosher Salt and Dehydrated  Red Pepper Mash in a Woozey Bottle, keep the shaker to on, nice hot vinagary salt

SciAggie

@lkapigian Lol - we think alike. I made this earlier in the week. Got the idea from Chili Chump on YouTube. 

lkapigian

SciAggie said:

@lkapigian Lol - we think alike. I made this earlier in the week. Got the idea from Chili Chump on YouTube. 

Hot Diggity Dog ...Chili Chump has a great channel

JethroBodeen

lkapigian said:

Don't throw your mash away...50/50 mix of Kosher Salt and Dehydrated  Red Pepper Mash in a Woozey Bottle, keep the shaker to on, nice hot vinagary salt

Is this completely dried out? You just spread it out on something and let it dry?

SciAggie

@JethroBodeen In my case I spread the mash out on parchment paper cut to fit on a dehydrator tray. I dried it and then ground it in a mortar. Be wary of dust... It’ll getcha...

lkapigian

JethroBodeen said:

lkapigian said:

Don't throw your mash away...50/50 mix of Kosher Salt and Dehydrated  Red Pepper Mash in a Woozey Bottle, keep the shaker to on, nice hot vinagary salt

Is this completely dried out? You just spread it out on something and let it dry?

Like @SciAggie , parchment or slipmat , into the dehydrator, I put mine in my Ninja in the smoothie attachment 

Ozzie_Isaac

Anyone ferment tomatoes?  I have more than I know what to do with, and wondered if you could.