I have 3 pepper mashes going right now. They are in mason jars with airlocks on them. All three of them are very active (yogurt whey starter, and they have onion and garlic in the mash) and the mash "juice" is coming up through the airlock and mixing into the airlock fluid (I used vodka instead of water). I think I filled each jar too close to the top, and I also did not weigh the mash down with anything. Is it a bad idea to open them up and weigh down the mash with ziploc bags filled with water? I don't have any sterilizing spray, so I'm not sure how "sterile" I can get a ziploc bag and I also don't want to let in oxygen/nasties when I open them up. Do I just leave them be and swirl them around as best as I can to get the air up and hope I can keep the pepper mash submerged?
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fermenting adjusting mash levels
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- Start date
Normally I say never open the jar, especially after a couple if weeks have gone by however, if your getting sauce in the airlock then you need to get that cleaned out. If you have another one you can sanitize and prime with water/vodka and can quickly switch them without loosing much co2 great. If not your really need to get that one off and clean and replace it.