What is your favorite starter for fermented sauce?
In the past I did a few ferments using the natural yeast in the air. I then used a few tablespoons of the brine from those to start my new ferments. It worked great, but was a bit inconsistent flavor wise. That led me to finally explore using an actual starter.
The probiotic Ive been most drawn to is the Garden Of Life brand raw 100 billion. It seems to have a very diverse lactobacillus culture. I have only done a couple of ferments using it so far and they seem to be going great. Within 24 hours of starting everything theyre bubbling like crazy.
I usually use a 3% salt brine in flip top jars with a rubber band around the clasp so gasses can escape. I keep them in a cabinet with a warming mat in the corner. No contact with the warming mat but ambient temp hovers around 85 degrees. Ive never had a ferment mold or fail using this so Ive never even tried using some of the water seals... I also dont put anything other than garlic, salt, and peppers in my jars. Maybe a couple spices here and there but no fruit or anything. Ive tried sugar a couple times but it seems like my ferments start faster and crash early.
Anyway, Ive done gallons upon gallons of sauce and am just trying to refine my method into something more consistent and repeatable. Were planning on growing over 2000 plants next year and I want to have my method perfect before theyre producing.
In the past I did a few ferments using the natural yeast in the air. I then used a few tablespoons of the brine from those to start my new ferments. It worked great, but was a bit inconsistent flavor wise. That led me to finally explore using an actual starter.
The probiotic Ive been most drawn to is the Garden Of Life brand raw 100 billion. It seems to have a very diverse lactobacillus culture. I have only done a couple of ferments using it so far and they seem to be going great. Within 24 hours of starting everything theyre bubbling like crazy.
I usually use a 3% salt brine in flip top jars with a rubber band around the clasp so gasses can escape. I keep them in a cabinet with a warming mat in the corner. No contact with the warming mat but ambient temp hovers around 85 degrees. Ive never had a ferment mold or fail using this so Ive never even tried using some of the water seals... I also dont put anything other than garlic, salt, and peppers in my jars. Maybe a couple spices here and there but no fruit or anything. Ive tried sugar a couple times but it seems like my ferments start faster and crash early.
Anyway, Ive done gallons upon gallons of sauce and am just trying to refine my method into something more consistent and repeatable. Were planning on growing over 2000 plants next year and I want to have my method perfect before theyre producing.
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