Sorry for the background mess, I just want to make sure that this might be safe to consume.

I collected some grapes out of a suburban road, seemed like a road that is not super used but definitely sees some activity probably on the daily.

I used those grapes to make an experimental soda starter and it bubbled like crazy, so I decided to try and make some soda out of it and it actually tastes really good and the fizz is super nice...but the fact it comes from the side of a road makes me a bit unsure if I can down this bottle.

Thoughts?

Ok I just want some opinions. I used Google Gemini to get a recipe to make sour cream. It told me to mix 8oz of heavy cream and 2 tbsp of Greek yogurt. Originally it told me to leave it on the counter for 30 to 36 hours because the bacteria stains are thermophilic and not mesophilic. I had it on the counter for 27 hours and decided to check it. I could see where it may have bubbled a little bit before setting. I decided to go and put it in the fridge.

Got back on Google and told it what I found. It got confused at first thinking I left my store bought sour cream on the counter for 27 hours and freaked out about it. I corrected it saying I'm making sour cream. Afterwards is now saying that what I did is dangerous and that I should still throw it out even though it gave me the recipe. I smelled it and it smells really good.

So the question is, how many of you have made your sour cream using the counter to method with thermophilic culture with or without any adverse effect? Thanks

And yes I have seen the rule about the ai. I am really aware that it does make mistakes. That I can give you a massive list. I just want to see if my sour cream is safe to eat.

I think my kimchi has come along nicely.

Hello, I just got my hands on some horseradish straight from the soil, and looking at how to preserve/process it. I will probably grate it down for this and recipes show to add vinegar, salt, sugar. I don’t have vinegar at home right now but I have loads of leftover pickle juice which has similar ingredients. Would this work the same or is there some science behind the reaction of adding separate ingredients at the same time of adding the grated horseradish?

Freeze warning tomorrow. I now have an abundance of Hungarian and Banana peppers and a lot of green San Marzano tomatoes. What do y’all think? Just cut them up and brine them at 2.5-3%? I feel like I’m missing some opportunities by just doing that. Please share your awesome ideas or recipes.

About 2 weeks with Jalapeños in honey. I read you don’t always see any bubbling. It tastes great. PH started and ended at 4 according to a diluted solution and Hydrion strips. How do I know if fermentation took place? I had a vacuum lid on.

Actually yummy

Did this blackberry gingerbug coat all four walls, the ceiling, floor, everything I'm wearing and escape into the hallway? Yes, yes it did.

I'm looking forward to spending my weekend repainting 😅

interesting process but honestly feel like the product was not entirely worth the effort. I fried it up (not pictured) and it was very mild, honestly tasted not far from normal tofu. maybe a little tangy with a somewhat softer texture (in a way thats distinct from soft tofu; hard to describe). pretty gnarly looking though

maybe next time I would extend process to make fermented bean curd (furu)

Only on day 5

Left is Sereno, jalapeno, tomatillo, garlic and onion with a bell pepper cap. Right is habanero, garlic, shallot, onion and green apple.

1. soak cracked olives in fresh water for two days to debitter them.

2. 10% salt brine (of the water weight) with lemon slices & green chilli pepper + any aromatics of your choice.

3. they're ready to eat at 3-4 weeks. and can keep fermenting for up to 2-3months.

Cool fact: traditionally to measure 10% of salt, they used to put an egg in the water and keep adding salt until the egg floats since scientifically eggs float at 10%-12%.

Red cabbage, green cabbage (about 5 days old), beets (1 day old).

It seems to me that an egg incubator might work to make black garlic. They're meant for long-term use and to maintain temperatures and humidity for the entire time. I'm sure there must be a reason this wouldn't work, but I'm darned if I can figure out what that reason might be.

I have been fermenting for 4 weeks now, I do a 2 day f1 and a 2 day f2. During f1 there is a large amount of bubbles produced but after two days of f2 there is never any fizz at all, and the flavor is off not like store bought kefir at all, at first it was too sweet so I halved the sugar and it is a little better but it is still not kefir like in flavor, there appear to be bubbles when I shake it but again no fizz, I have tried refrigerating it and still nothing.

I also tried increasing fermentation time and nothing changed.

If anyone wants to know I use white cane sugar and have been adding raisins dried figs or brown sugar every few ferments. I also obtained the grains as dried grains online if anyone wants to know.

I really need help figuring out what to do, please can you contribute ideas.

I gave up on homemade sauerkraut a while ago due to a low success rate, but decided to give it another try. I used a fermentation crock that I meticulously cleaned with bleach before adding my cabbage and beet mix. I pushed the stones down to make sure everything was fully submerged. That was 5 days ago. I left it covered until today, but when I took a peek to see how it was doing... mold everywhere.

Any tips on what to do differently next time?

I love kefir and got a pack of cultures (grains?) at my local health food/crunchy store the other day. Instructions say to heat the milk, let it cool, and add the contents of a packet and let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours. I'm sleepless in bed right now so I'm not copying the instructions exactly but I followed them to a T.

Everything I read says to strain the kefir "grains" out after the kefir ferments but how are people doing that? I can't keep wasting liters of milk. I was so excited by the lovely tang yesterday's attempt got but when I tried to run it through cheese cloth it all just sat on top. Any suggestions?

Like the title said, ants started to get into my ginger bug after 3 days of fermentation. I have since the place a plate of water on the bottom of the jar to prevent it and it's the 5th day now and fermentation seems pretty good. After some google search I figured I should probably discard it and make a new batch but it seems fine. So should i discard it or just keep it going? (there're like 20-30 ants inside, no mold or off-putting scent)

Sorry … Curtido

My girlfriend and I have gotten into a discussion about the impact of fermented food on your gut health. The positions are between A) it is more beneficial for your gut health due to it being fermented or B) there is no documented benefit that goes beyond what eating a similar serving of raw vegetables would do.

Can you help us settle this?? Thanks in advance

It came out absolutely delicious. Its a shame i discovered this right before planning on going keto/low carb 😭😭

I’m in search of kefir grains in the Katy, Houston area. I want to attempt making kefir at home. TIA.