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fermenting New member...First Ferment

Sizzle Lips

Sizzle Lips

Extreme Member
Just want to start off and say thanks again to all the great info that the people in this forum supply.This is my first go at fermented hot sauce,I have been reading and reading...I hope I did this right.
I started out with 2 pounds of Orange Habs,carrot ,onion and some garlic......I had the crock already....I collected some whey from greek yogurt and followed the fermenting 101 instructions.
Chopped,grated and mixed the ingrediants in a bowl,added the whey(roughly 3 tablespoons) and into the crock and then the weights.
I mixed 2 tablespoons pickling salt with 2 cups warm water and added over the mix.....it was not enough to cover it so I mixed 2 more cups.....covered it just nicely....hope I did not screw up by doing that.
I put the lid on the crock.....filled the channel with water and set it in a safe out of the way place.
 
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I hope i did this right my fellow chilli heads......I did forget to get a picture that shows the mash is covered by about and inch of brine....but it was all covered.
Now the long wait begins.....i plan on letting this go a least three or 4 months......by that time I should be able to use my own pods instead of store bought.
 
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Looks really good SizL, looks like you did a great job in my book. I have never used one of them fancy fermentin crocks before one thing that has puzzled me about them is the porous weight stones. I dont understand why they would make them porous, and I have in my mind that flavors may transfer from batch to batch. Definatly, with superhots. I guess you could just have a set of stones dedicated to peppers and one for other ferments like pickles and saurkraut???
 
If everything is submerged dont be afraid to open the lid, a have a wiff, with this being your first batch I would acutally encourge it. It will help you become familair with the smells of a ferment. Just my opinion.  Those crocks your using utilizes a double safe gaurd with everything submerged under water and everything sealed from oxygen to create a CO2 barrier.  When I make large batches of saurkraut I place cabbage in a 5 Gallon crock, cover with a dinner plate and weigh down with a couple quart canning jars filled with water, and cover the top with just a towel.  Smaller batches I will use and old pickle jar and a left over sour cream lid or similar to submerge.
 
I opened this one last night after a 2-2.5 week ferment. Really good with some naga morich powder added to it. Real simple just salt water and cabbage (during the winter I use about a tsp of Lacto from brewshop to get things going a little faster). Much better than that store bought stuff
 
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Let us know how yours turns out and how you end up finishing it.
 
Have fun and Good Luck!
 
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Yo Sizzle!  Welcome to the site :)
 
That ferment looks to be rockin by all accounts.  Gonna be hot when she's finished too!  The extra brine should not harm the ferment at all that I can think of.  Do you ever have trouble with the weights slipping down into your ferments?  I have a smallish crock like that and I find the stones tend to slip down into the ferments as they progress.  Love the crock and the water seal, don't really care for the stones.  Maybe I'm doing it wrong.
 
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Beerbreath....Thanks for the encouraging words.....your Kraut looks great.....as for the weights transfereing ang kind of flavor....I boil them after Im done and have not really had any noticeable problems.
 
SmokenFire....Thanks for the welcome....I never had a problem yet with the wieghts ...but if you notice in my picture under the weights there is a screen.This is a piece of food grade frog mat ....used for BBQing...my other hobby.....I use it to keep any small particles floating by the weights....it is flexable but seems to keep things level....heres a close up pic of the material that its cut from.
 
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Hey guys and gals.....just wondering what your thoughts on the ideal temp for your ferment to work best at........I have mine in an area that is 75 degrees on  the nose.......once the fernenting has finished does it matter if it drops a couple degrees for the aging process.....or just leave it at the same temp......If I have done everything right .....how long should it take for my mash to noticeably start working.
Just want to make sure I am on the right track.
 
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The ideal range for Lacto fermentation is 85 to 95 degrees F. It will ferment at the temperature you have it at but will take maybe a week or 2 more to finish depending on the amount of sugars in your mash.
 
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Thanks RocketMan ....I think i can bump it it up another 5 degrees where I have now....that way I am at least 80 degrees..
 
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I have a heating pad underneath now and it is at 85 degrees according to my therm.....and I have noticed that my crock has started burping ever so often ...I think good things are beginning to happen :dance:
 
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Looks great man, welcome aboard! I routinely ferment at room temp with no ill effects,just takes a tad longer as RM suggested. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out!
 
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Just another newb question.....I know im only 6 days into my ferment and its still slowly doing its thing.....burping every once and awhile.My question is that right now it is an oxygen free enviroment as long as its not opened.....when ferment is done working and I want to let it age for a couple months....does it have be refrigerated to age as long as it has never been opened.
 
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Sizzle Lips said:
Just another newb question.....I know im only 6 days into my ferment and its still slowly doing its thing.....burping every once and awhile.My question is that right now it is an oxygen free enviroment as long as its not opened-----yes, so long as its not opened and you keep water around the top ring
when ferment is done working and I want to let it age for a couple months....does it have be refrigerated to age as long as it has never been opened--No, two reasons...1. it IS in an oxygen free environment. 2. because all food stuffs are below brine. As stated earlier you technically only need one or the other. 
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if interested here is a free ebook
 
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/lacto-fermentation-free-ebook
 
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Thanks for that quick responce beerbreath......and thanks for the link to that ebook......thats what I love about this place. :dance: :cheers:
 
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beerbreath81 said:
Sizzle Lips, on 10 Apr 2014 - 07:47 AM, said:
 


Just another newb question.....I know im only 6 days into my ferment and its still slowly doing its thing.....burping every once and awhile.My question is that right now it is an oxygen free enviroment as long as its not opened-----yes, so long as its not opened and you keep water around the top ring
when ferment is done working and I want to let it age for a couple months....does it have be refrigerated to age as long as it has never been opened--No, two reasons...1. it IS in an oxygen free environment. 2. because all food stuffs are below brine. As stated earlier you technically only need one or the other. 

 
if interested here is a free ebook
 
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/lacto-fermentation-free-ebook
Click to expand...
 
Not to mention that the Ph will be below 4.0 from the fermentation and that gives you a shelf stable product.
 
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