Heisenberg said:Just curious. How would you all describe the smell of proper lacto-fermenting peppers? Ive searched and read through tons of posts, but mostly people just say "it smells...lacto-fermented". From the gases venting out, mine smell kinda sour to sulfur/rotten egg-ish. But not so rotten eggish that its over powering, more a hint....like walking into the bathroom and saying...yea, someone was in here about a half hour ago.
HI WhacedBear, what temperature are you keeping the mash at (and did you start it from peppers you had in the fridge)? At room temp (72F) it usually takes a batch of "already at room temperature" mash about 2 days before you can see anything (or hear it if you are using a sealed jar and loosen it a bit to listen for escaping CO2). I'd leave it for another day or so and bring up the temperature if possible. If that doesn't work then you can try adding more culture. I wouldn't strain it now though since no matter what, it will be "raw". You might have some mold growth at the top after a few days, but that can be gently removed with no worries. Let us know how things work out.WhackedBear said:New member, Been going through this thread for a few days now. I started my first ferment before I found your site. Mistake number one right! It's been about two days now without signs of fermentation (Currently everything is settling to the bottom). I used a LB starter packet (Caldwell's Starter packet), mistake number two was that I did not have a jar larger enough for the entire mash. so I had to split it and only ended up putting the culture and brine in one jar due two the availability of clean and sanitary jars. My question is should I try adding another packet of culture to the mash? or possibly strain the mash and follow directions according to this thread?
Heisenberg said:So I opened my jars today that are pretty much done fermenting, (i know, i know), and one of the jars had something yellow growing under the lid. Coincidentally I had opened that jar a few days ago to add a crushed up lacto acidophilus pill to it because it was one of the jars that didnt seem to have a ton of activity. I put the crushed up pill in, tightened lid, and shook it up. I guess its possible that some of the powder stuck to the lid and started growing, because I found some pics on the internet where lacto colonies can grow yellow:
Has anyone else ever seen anything yellow growing in their ferment? Any similar situations? Advice? I should add that I opened the jars today to take some samples. I work in a lab. Going to measure the pH (precisely), the lactate, and the sodium levels. Unfortunately I dont have access to the micro lab or I would culture it.
WhackedBear said:New member, Been going through this thread for a few days now. I started my first ferment before I found your site. Mistake number one right! It's been about two days now without signs of fermentation (Currently everything is settling to the bottom). I used a LB starter packet (Caldwell's Starter packet), mistake number two was that I did not have a jar larger enough for the entire mash. so I had to split it and only ended up putting the culture and brine in one jar due two the availability of clean and sanitary jars. My question is should I try adding another packet of culture to the mash? or possibly strain the mash and follow directions according to this thread?
WhackedBear said:The peppers were at room temputre but room temp at my house is around 64-68 degrees. The mash was placed in a pint mason jar with a air lock and being stored in a cabinet for a nice dark place. Everything the mash touched was sanitiized with boiling water. I also tried the maing the whole sauce method rather than just peppers. The whole sauce was chipotles, smoked habenaros, tomato sauce(should of done whole) garlic and black beans.
RocketMan said:Snug not loose or tight. That way when the pressure builds up enough it presses up on the lid just enough to allow the CO2 to escape and close before any air gets in.