fermenting My first Ferment

[HillBilly Jeff]

Here goes nothing.
 
 

 

[Jeff H]

Thanks Jeff.  My first ferment is bubbling today so I am a happy man there.  I was looking at the glad discs in the above link and I am not sure how they would work better than using a 4 ounce jelly jar.  It too just fits inside the neck of a 1/2 gallon, but there is a lot of space around it to float stuff up.  A mess bag filled with like marbles (pure glass) would seem to work better at getting a solid surface coverage.
 
Any way, not going to pop it open now that I got some action going.  What does it do, ferment for about a week and then age?  I don't have to stick it in the fridge after it is done fermenting right?

 
One thing I did successfully was to take a ziploc bag full of water and put it over the peppers. The weight will keep them under the top of the water and the baggie will conform to your jar size. More lately, I have just been using sealed jars since peppers ferment so slowly. I burp them every once in a while and if they separate, I shake them up. No issues so far.
The fermenting taste is there after a few days.
 
Use that nice Hanna pH meter to check for refrigeration needs if in doubt, but mine usually stay on the pantry shelf aging until needed.
 
Find Rocketman. He is the expert fermenter around here.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Won't checking the ph involve letting in oxygen?

 

[Jeff H]

Yes, of course it will. I've never had the needed to do it, Just putting it out there as an option if you were worried.
 
 
My longest ferment/aging is since Mid Jan. It sits on a pantry shelf with a sealed lid.
 
Remember Tabasco ages their peppers for 3 years without refrigeration.

 

[Chili Monsta]

 
I've never seen a pepper ferment be that aggressively fermenting that it can get to the air lock with as much headspace as Jeff has. I can get away with putting on a sealed lid and just burping it once every day or two.
 
No expert for sure, but I have done a bit of fermenting and that has never happened.
 
 

Sadly,through the years I have had it happen many times in aggressive ferments with even more airspace than is shown if Jeff's pics.
And since it makes quite a mess, and I am forced to open the ferment vessel and flush the airlock, (exposing the contents to o2) I choose to be play it safe, rather than sorry.
I now use the leaves from fresh cabbage, that are tightly fit on top of the ingredients. When the ferment is completed, remove the cabbage and discard. The fresh cabbage contributes to the active LAB, is cheap,readily available, and works every time.
But each to his own....I was simply offering my two cents worth of cheap advice based upon personal experience.
CM 

 

[Downriver]

Sadly,through the years I have had it happen many times in aggressive ferments with even more airspace than is shown if Jeff's pics.
And since it makes quite a mess, and I am forced to open the ferment vessel and flush the airlock, (exposing the contents to o2) I choose to be play it safe, rather than sorry.
I now use the leaves from fresh cabbage, that are tightly fit on top of the ingredients. When the ferment is completed, remove the cabbage and discard. The fresh cabbage contributes to the active LAB, is cheap,readily available, and works every time.
But each to his own....I was simply offering my two cents worth of cheap advice based upon personal experience.
CM 

 
I'm also a member of this club, repeatedly.
 
That's how I learned to ALWAYS use a catch tray under your ferment jar.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

I forgot to ask earlier, but using a baggie of water or a plastic mesh bag with glass weights, is there any concern of the plastic leeching into the brine?

 

[SmokenFire]

I forgot to ask earlier, but using a baggie of water or a plastic mesh bag with glass weights, is there any concern of the plastic leeching into the brine?

 
That sneaky suspicion we share is why I've never used that method.  Can also confirm CM's 'use the larger outer cabbage leaf cap' method works - I tried it after reading his suggestion of it.

 

[RocketMan]

I'm going to be trying the cabbage leaves too on my next ones. 
 
Oh and HillBilly, instead of using plastic go to a homebrew shop or find one online and order a couple of Hop Bags. You'll have no issues with them and they're cheap and reuseable.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

My first ferment, 7 days old, doesn't need swished back down inside the salt water any more.  Never really did see any aggressive bubbling, but it did raise up in the jar the first few days.
 
My other two ferments I don't know if they got it done as I did have to swish em back down, but not as much as the first one.
 
These sounding normal?

 

[randyp]

          Yes,sounds like mine Jeff.