So guys I am fermenting peppers in a glass jar and I poured a little liquid from a tub of yogurt(lacto bacteria) in it. My question is do I put a lid on it or just keep the towel over it like i have now. I have read a lot about using an air lock device. Since I dont have one will a lid do or does it need oxygen.
-
If you have a question about commercial production or the hot sauce business, please post in The Food Biz.
fermenting another Fermenting @
- Thread starter jwood
- Start date
If its a canning jar just put a lid on it finger tight, the gas will release them self from the seal or you could use a plastic bag full of water and set it on top of the mash. This makes an air lock and holds the solids under the brine.
If you think the peppers are to dry then and a little bit of 5-6% salt brine, if there good just fill a plastic ziplock bag with salt brine (just in case the bag springs a leak) and put it on top of everything to push it down and seal it from air. Check every couple days to a week just to make sure theirs no mold. If there is just scrape it out clean the bag and put it back on top. Good luck
A picture would help a lot, but the white is probably just lactose bacillus. There is the possibility that it could be a little mold but that's easily remedied by just removing the plastic bag, rinsing it in some clean water, scrape out anything floating with a clean spoon, then just put the bag back on it and check again in a few days to a week. Mold wont hurt anything as long as you don't leave it there for weeks. Also if you see white particles at the bottom of the jar that's definitely the lactose bacillus, though you probably wont see to much of that for another week or two, when the fermentation slows down.
I plan on putting pictures up in about a day once i get my can. I may have screwed it up, I put a cup of water with 1tbsp of salt to get the mash under the water now its not bubbling. I put a layer of cheese cloth on top of the mash with a bag fill with brine.This is the 5th day of the fermentation.
I think you just shocked it a little not screwed it up, though 1 tablespoon of salt to a cup of water is an awful lot of salt... a teaspoon would of been more then enough 
The amount of salt in solution has a lot to do with the speed of fermentation. In other words the more salt you add the slower the fermentation but lesser chance of bad Bactria infecting. Really you don't need any salt to make fermentation happen but unless you can keep everything perfectly clean and have a horse shoe up your backside you probably will have more bad Bactria then lactose Basilius.
The amount of salt in solution has a lot to do with the speed of fermentation. In other words the more salt you add the slower the fermentation but lesser chance of bad Bactria infecting. Really you don't need any salt to make fermentation happen but unless you can keep everything perfectly clean and have a horse shoe up your backside you probably will have more bad Bactria then lactose Basilius.