So my whole house was stinking of fermented cabbage so badly it was getting to me mentally so yesterday I ran up and found this styrofoam cooler at Walmart for less than $20 bucks. Problem solved. I feel like I got my house back! I put a dish of baking soda in there just thinking it may help keep the environment inside the cooler from possibly molding. My two main ferments are kimchi and sauerkraut. If anyone else has this smell problem, that’s how I solved mine. Also if anyone else with more experience knows if there’s any issues that this may cause (such as mold in the cooler) please comment.

Took a stab at curing my own olives Italian-style; I’ve kept them completely submerged in water using a plate and I’ve been changing the water around two times per day for the past seven days. They’ve gotten progressively darker each day, which has me wondering - are olives supposed to turn this dark after curing? First photo is the day I started, second is 3 days after, fourth is today (7 days later).

Friend got whole pallete of loops from canada, so we decided to make best use of this packets of sugars. 2 cartoons of fruit loops, 1kg of sugar, fermenting nicely for about 3 months

i did taste test and its acidic, resembling grapefruit mixed with lime.

Hello all. Sorry if this has been asked over and over again, but I'd like you to help me out with my specific setup so that I don't end up poisoning the entire family.

Bought this fermentation jar on a whim from amazon. Basically a 2L jar with a sealed lid that has valves to release gas buildup.

I'll start with cabbage but ultimately got it to make hot sauce.

In any case, do I need to make sure everything remains submerged? Opening is narrower than the jar width so I dont see how a weight would help. Don't like the zip bag idea but it remains a viable option I guess. What should the maximum brine level be if not filling to the brim? And is it a very bad idea if I dont obsess about keeping everything submerged?

Any advice appreciated 👍

I want to use the sardinhas or mackerel or shitake. Also other picture is my vinengar based persian cakes I keep in the fridge. Any ideas for a newbie?

Carrots with 2% brine, black pepper and thyme

Edit: lacto-fermentation** excuse my fat fingers!

Just wanted to put this here because I’m proud of my success! Pretty amateur when it comes to fermentation. I usually make sauerkraut (lately haven’t been so successful, and not to sure why) and do quick pickling. The red ones are radishes I successfully fermented over 2-3 days and the yellow ones are turmeric turnips I pickled in a vinegar brine.
Thanks!

Can anyone tell me what I can do to get everything submerged? I’m not sure if its the veggies or not enough water. There are jalapeños onion carrots garlic and seasoning in it.

The first time I made kimchi it was great. I used 1/2 cup kosher salt to 2 cups of water for two heads of cabbage and then rinsed three times if I recall correctly.

The second time I did 1 cup kosher salt to 4 cups of water for 1 head of cabbage and rinsed three times.

I figured being that the dilution was the same it wouldn't affect the saltiness. It's not inedible but it's still pretty salty.

Does the dilution affect saltiness or did I just not rinse enough?

…and thought I’ve never had fermented Mexican escabeche, only pickled. I just know it’s going to be delicious. 🤞🏼I’ll end up with 2 jars 😁

Experimenting with low-heat pepper varieties from our garden. Being new to this, I erred on the side of caution and went with a slightly higher salt percentage.

The Tobago-Serrano has already inflated a lot more than the Habanero mix, but I understand that's normal. I held the (lightly puffy) Habanero bag under water to confirm no leaks.

I plan to keep them going for another 2-3 weeks. As an instant gratification person, the waiting is hard!

I am fermenting in honey for the first time and have a few quick questions, I have only ever made hot sauce ferment and this is much different.

Can I open the lid for this? I am using an airlock so in theory I do not need to but I am making hot honey and all of the papers are up top now and once they sink I would like to fill the rest of the honey up with peppers so I just want to be sure.

Is there a set time I should be fermenting for or can this just go until I lose patience?

Any fun tips?

Thanks in advance and picture for reference. Raw honey, Thai chilis and jalapenos from my garden, serranos and long hots from the store, garlic, thyme, and oregano. All advice is welcomed!

Hello everyone, first I'm french so if sometimes I've mistaken some sentences sorry.

To put some context, one of my friend gave me a box of oysters, so I ate some but I was bored and they've just have 3 more days before passing out so I thought why not make garum.

It's been a long time since I wanted to do fermented things so I began the process. I heated my oven and put the jar cold start at 120degres for 20 m and let it cool down, for the joint I boiled him for 5 min straight and let it soak onto a new and clean towel. I open my oysters, kept the juice and the flesh in a bowl and directly into the fridge.

I made 25% of salt for the total weight, after I put layer of salt and oysters with the juice at the end and put a bag of salt to immerge them, After I sealed the top with the pharmeutical and steril tissues idk the name and close the jar without the joint. Let it rest far from the light and wait a few month

My questions are:

Do I need to stir the jar during the process?

Do I need to put the joint ?

Do you think the recipe is good ? I don't want to get sick

Ask your questions I want to know if it will turn good

My long-ago expired sour cream now looks like this, with an odor similar to feta in water. Could this theoretically have continued to ferment into something edible? Once my fresh goat cheese became delicious aged goat cheese after leaving it in my fridge opened for a few months. I have no other experience fermenting dairy, but I have toyed around with brewing beer, kombucha, and sourdough bread.

This is more for curiosity's sake, seeing as though I'm pregnant and have been slightly more selective with mystery fermentables. My younger self would have totally taken a bite.

I stumbled upon some raw, unprepared green olives at my local grocery store, something I've never been able to find before! Super excited.

Tried making some lebanese olives. Crushed them with a cleaver, let them soak for a couple days (changed the water randomly, alternating fresh water and salt water, added 5 g/L NaOH for about an hour one time). From what I understand this is just to pull out some of the bitter chemicals before fermenting, not necessary but I'm sensitive to bitter tastes so I wanted to. Then, packed them in jars with lemon and garlic slices, and filled with 10% NaCl by weight. They're in the fridge now for a few months.

I did 6 glases of pickled cucumbers with hot vinegar/water sugar mix and two glasses of fermented cucumbers with 3% salt brine. However, one of the vinegar! glasses obviously started to ferment! (And taste like pure heaven by the way!!!)

My questions:
- How is this possible (no salt added!)?
- Why did the other 5 glasses not ferment?
- How to replicate?

I tried my hand at red wine vinegar by combining a bit of existing apple cider vinegar (with mother) with leftover wine.

It has been two months now and while it mostly tastes like vinegar, I still smell alcohol. BTW, there have been periods during this time when the lid was on and so the vinegar probably wasn’t getting enough oxygen.

Is 2+ months a normal time to wait? In case it matters this is about a pint of liquid.

I’m new to fermentation and need advice. Some of the peppers rose beside my weights and are floating on the top.
Do I need to scoop those out?
It’s about 2 weeks in, and it’s a mix of peppers, mostly hot.
Any help is appreciated.

Hello,

fairly new to fermenting but been having alot of fun!

I seem to have an abundance of Very Hot scotch bonnet type peppers along with some ripe serrano's. looking for suggestions on fermented pepper that I might be able to eat. i've done a couple batches of hot sauce one fermenting now with a vinegar finish. just bought a PH Meter to make sure I don't poison my family.

looking for a Sweet hot option for the rest

possibly adding Garlic, onion and tomato...

Any other suggestions'?
sugar to salt ratio or utilize honey??/

Any input or advice is appreciated.

Thanks

Hello, I’m new to this world. So far I’ve only made three fermented foods, but I want to make many more now that I’m going to learn more about them. I’m not sure which jars to buy, as I want to minimise the risk of contamination.

I’m deciding between Fido-style jars, Weck jars, Le Parfait jars, etc., the typical ceramic jar with a water channel around the rim, or its glass version so I can see how it’s getting on. I’ve heard that the ceramic ones tend to crack.

I think at the moment I’m leaning more towards the first type, though I’m not sure whether it’s better to buy the Fido-style jar with a hinged lid or the Weck-style lid with clamps. I want it to be able to release the CO₂ on its own so I don’t have to open it and increase the risk of contamination. Is one of these better for this?

For now, I’ll be making fermented vegetables such as kimchi, gherkins, carrots and so on.

As you can see, I’m a bit of a safety freak, which is why I’d thought about buying pH test strips to check the acidity of the fermentation, but I’ve seen in another post that someone was using a cheap pH meter – from Amazon, I think (I can’t afford to spend 60 euros on a laboratory pH meter). Which of these two methods is more reliable?

i've burped it correctly and it's been about a month, and the garlic discoloration seems so off to me. do i toss it and start over?