1 Keep anaerobic...keep solids submerged and use an airlock.I'd love to hear more about your sauces. Could you give a brief step by step? One of my main reasons for wanting to make a fermented sauce is so I can process and store my harvests efficiently and at a convenient pace. If I could simply blend, brine, ferment and store outside of the fridge it would be ideal.
2 20c is the best temperature for fermentation.
3 inoculation with live bacteria is not necessary but is a good and worthwhile insurance policy.
4 After full fermentation fill bottles to the top. Make airtight seals.
5 Watch and wonder...be interested in the process.
6 Read E.R.Farnworth on the subject.
This is what it boils down to for me...it is an incredibly complex interplay of succession amongst organisms that are so compatible with the human body.
Paradoxically it has been around for thousands of years as the primary preservation method of a lot of so called simple but undeniably healthy cultures/peoples.
Generally used as condiments...don't plan on eating truckloads of fermented foods...one can overdo it a break out in rashes.
"I can process and store my harvests efficiently and at a convenient pace"...yes you can, my thoughts exactly.