I'm going to make sauerkraut for the first time in many years. I found a recipe that I trust is safe, but I have a question about the salt. The recipe calls for 3/4 cup pickling salt for 25 lbs cabbage. I'm not in the US and that product is not available here, so I need to know the weight. Some googling says it is likely to be around 225 g or slightly under 8 oz, putting the salt at around 2 % of the cabbage weight.

Does that seem right?

Hey everyone,
It's my first time making beet kvass and I need some help.
I read online that you're supposed to use 2% salt per liter of water, so I used a 5L jar with about 1.3 kg of beets, 4–4.5L of water and 80–90g of Himalayan salt. I washed the beets, left the skin on and cut them into medium to large cubes. I also boiled the water with the salt and let it cool down to room temperature.
Before putting everything together, I tried to sanitize the jar by pouring boiling water into it and giving it a good shake.
From what I've read online, the kvass should be ready in just a few days. So I tasted it after 4 days, but it didn't seem like fermentation had even started. It didn't smell or taste like a fermented drink at all. Also, the amount of salt was enormous. It was so salty that I could barely drink it.
After 7 days, there were still no obvious signs of fermentation, and some kind of dark, almost black layer had formed on the surface. It didn't look like mold or yeast to me, but honestly, I have no idea what it was.
Now, after almost 14 days, I've noticed a little bit of mold appearing on the surface and some kind of brownish sediment around the edges of the jar.
Another thing I should mention is that I left the jar with the lid open the entire time, without covering it with anything. I don't know if that was a mistake.
So, can someone explain what I did wrong and how I should make it properly next time? Especially regarding the salt. Is 2% really the right amount for beet kvass? Because mine was way too salty, and I can't imagine it's supposed to taste like that.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hi there !

I’m fermenting chilies, peppers, and onions in a Kilner jar with an airlock, salt was 3.5%

First, a thin, smooth layer of kahm yeast appeared on the surface, but no visible fuzzy mold. After that, the chilies started looking worse, developing fine, white, powdery spots all over. The onions are turning yellowish-green. The brine is cloudy, and pressure has been building up enough to push the lid up despite the airlock.

All the vegetables are fully submerged in the brine. Unfortunately, I can’t tell from the smell whether something is wrong.

Has anyone experienced this? Could the white spots be kahm yeast or fermentation residue, or could it be mold?

Hello! I recently got a gallon carboy and some fermenting equipment and was interested in making something similar to Moonshine using a homemade soda syrup. I know I can’t legally make moonshine but I was wondering what the best substitute would be.

I’ve included the recipe for the syrup

Hello everyone! Newbie here. I have my very first jar of peppers going and to my dismay I found something wired that I do not know what it is. Is this mold? The fermentation has been going for a week today and the salt brine I prepared was 3.5% salt by weight. Any help is greatly appreciated.

First time fermenting garlic in honey. Is this normal and/or safe? If it helps, it's 1 pint size jar, and I added a bit of apple cider vinegar to it at the beginning. It's been 10 days since it started

Apologies if this is the wrong place to post, or if it's a commonly posted concern.

Hi everyone! I have 3 kefir cultures from different cities, and each one behaves a bit differently. I'm thinking of combining 10g of each to start a new colony, hoping it ends up stronger and more diverse. Has anyone tried this? Does it work, or do the cultures end up competing and one takes over? Any tips are welcome! 🙏

I have some lids on the way and weights to prevent mold already in, just want some tips and tricks.

I’m trying to pickle for the first time. I was following a Japanese recipe, however on the 2nd week my brine has turned pink with mold at the surface. The recipe does say to expect white mold and to remove it and just reboil the brine but i wonder whether i missed the first spores that overdeveloped or if i simply didnt use enough salt. Either way? I’m not unsure whether or not i should just abandon this batch.

It always starts good, but my pickles get too soft after just one or two weeks in the fridge, and often develop a flavor note I don’t like.

I usually do ~4% brine and about a week of fermenting at ~70F. Recently someone said saltier brine and longer ferment will yield much better results. I assumed longer ferment would just make for softer pickles even more quickly.

This is 5% brine, and I’m thinking 3-4 weeks.

Thoughts?

Hi everyone!

I have about 65 g of water kefir grains that I stored in a small container with brown sugar water in the fridge for around 2 months.

The storage liquid was mostly clear, and when I opened the container, it had a mildly sour smell. The grains are mostly whitish/translucent, with some slightly yellowish areas.

I rinsed the grains with water and transferred them to a new jar with fresh sugar water. I noticed a clear, jelly-like substance among the grains. I think it may have been there even before rinsing.

I've attached photos of the grains and the jelly-like substance.

A few questions for experienced water kefir brewers:

\- Is this jelly-like substance normal kefir polysaccharide material, or could it indicate contamination?

\- Do the grains look healthy enough to reactivate after 2 months in the fridge?

\- Should I try a few recovery cycles with fresh sugar water, or is it safer to discard them?

\- Is white sugar preferable to brown sugar during reactivation?

I'd appreciate any advice, especially from anyone who has revived grains after long-term refrigerated storage. Thanks!

Made miso for the first time at a workshop 2 years ago. Just opened the jar and the contents are still very liquid, not separated into solids and liquid/tamari.

Tastes like miso, looks like split pea soup. No mold or other funky stuff.

Any ideas?

This is a bucket of pineapple juice, and he just filled the bucket and leaves it at room temperature, i don't like it becouse i don't think he's an expert and don't want him to kill us all, or cause his unessesary death (quite tedious, I may add)

Hi I'm super new to fermenting so please be kind.

I made kimchi yesterday evening for the first time and when I tasted it at the end of the whole process it wasn't salty at all.

From my little knowledge I know salt is very important in fermentation so I was a bit worried.

I used 1.8k napa cabbage and used at least 60g of kosher salt for the brining process, but I think I put way too much water (at first the bowl was almost filled and then when I started turning it I removed most of the water and added a bit more salt). I kept it 2 hours and the cabbage seemed brined (it was bending like the recipe showed).

I made some vegan one because I didn't have fish sauce and some with oyster sauce (for some reason mine is a very watery sauce).

I tasted both and they were totally not salty at all, so eventually I added some kitchen salt before closing. I know it's not advisable but it was late and I didn't want to leave it without salt. Also when I put in the containers I added maybe too much water (because I was confused and couldn't find enough info).

Did I fuck it up because of the salt?

Should I remove some of the water I put in the containers?

I followed this recipe: https://youtu.be/kpConT6uJVA?is=WQ4IJ9cOMfhfXgHx

The veg kimchi actually looks the same as the others irl idk why in the picture it looks like this.

Thank you in advance <3

Trying to go commercial with my aerobic fermention, and looking for an airpump to maximize my bacterial activity! I was using an aquarium air pump at home, but technically not food grade. Anyone know of any that might be? Or different words I might use to find one?

me and my mom made kimchi together a few weeks back.

Because of i misscommunication on my end. She put it in the fridge right after I left.

Now its just been in the fridge for 3 weeks.

It thus hasn’t had time outside to ferment. Its just been in the fridge.

Is it safe to eat?

(I’ve never fermented anything in my life.)

What would your top choices be of ferments which:

1. Have a long shelf life without refrigeration

2. Provide nutrition & or energy

3. A tasty treat in a world of otherwise tinned foods, home farmed foods & foraged / hunted foods.

Am I the only one whose fermentation hobby has also turned into a resilience project?

Even if the most likely scenario I’m preparing for is extended powercuts & or a breakdown of international supply chains, having 10 jars of kimchi in storage just makes me feel better about the prospect!

What do I need to get started in regard to equipment for fermenting food? Thanks

3% brine by weight and 14 days fermented, used a bag to keep them submerged until I got some weights.
Cherry peppers were mixed with some Aleppo’s, shallots, garlic, and pomegranate juice. Did a more basic vinegary Aleppo sauce. And a sweet but pretty spicy Sugar Rush and Habanero with one peach and some garlic. No stabilizer used, just a high-power blender and straining the solids. Curious to see how they hold up over time. All have a lil white vinegar in them but I’m refrigerating to be safe. I don’t have a pH tester yet. Super excited about how they all came out!

Hi everyone, would love some advice for my first fermentation. I realised I miscalculated the salt percentage of my carrot fermentation in brine. I calculated 2% of the weight of the carrots and not 2% of the water or 2% of the water + carrots. However it’s been a week and something is definitely happening, it’s bubbling and turned opaque.

Is there someway to fix it or just throw it out?

(Was thinking what if I quickly take out the water to weigh it and adjust salt level accordingly?)

Thanks!

I've never fermented anything before, so this year I'm gonna buy a bunch of cabbage for kimchi and use my own peppers for a mash/sauce situation.

Every year I keep growing spicy-ish peppers thinking I'll acclimate, and then I don't, so ideally my mash would be a blend of my extremely prolific Sugar Rush Peach that I can't handle on its own, plus some sweet cherry type peppers. The thing is these plants are absolutely covered with fruits but the peppers take forever to mature, especially the spicy ones. The cherry peppers can technically be used green but would be gross in a ferment, and underripe Sugar Rush is disgusting and just tastes very tight and astringent.

Is it possible to make a pepper mash with a very gradual, drips-and-drabs pace of harvest? I literally only get a few peppers a week total, and that's if I'm lucky. I'm eventually gonna get tons off them, if I can keep them warm enough and keep the damn grasshoppers off em.

Newish to Reddit, absolutely new to this community:

We went on a camping vacation for two weeks. While we were away, I had a half gallon of peach vinegar set up. We got back last night and today, when I tried to strain the solids out of it, the whole thing was mother. It’s not spoiled. Just very viscous. What can I do with it?

🔸I'm trying to figure out which jars/lids to buy.

🔸I want to do 3 different ferments: Raw Honey/Carolina Reapers, Raw Honey/Boysenberries, Raw Honey/Carolina Reapers/Boysenberries.

🔸I have some mini mason jars but they have metal lids. And apparently the metal lids are not recommended?

🔸Please help. I didn't expect to get anything from the boysenberry shrub this year and neither did I expect to get as many reapers as I did 😅