Yes, I had high hopes for the pickle pipes...
Only got to keep 65% of these on the counter top here:
The 35% of failed/contaminated 1/2 gallon jars went into the dank tank. Circle of life.
The issue with these pickle pipe type lids is they are malleable. That is a big problem at later stages of fermentation when some negative pressure is achieved. The lids can literally pull away from the screw on rings and it's game over. I only recommend them for short ferments. Almost can't recommend them at all for peppers. Peppers need more time than these lids like to allow, by design. Filling the jars past the shoulder seems like another big no no with these lids as the product and juices will push up, continually pushing co2 out of the nipple, and that nipple opening is also allowing contams in when that is happening. If the juice reaches the nipple, its generally game over.
You gotta know the quirks.
That's why I moved to these this year:
16 gallons of rigid fermenting power. When it's over, I'm hoping to submerge an immersion blender down in there and drain out straight into a boil kettle for the cook.
Going with two master blends this year.
One all yellow/orange/white varieties and one all red/chocolate.
I bought two freezers and filled them with peppers, but it's hunting season and I need freezer room, so filling 32 gallons oughta free up some space.
All isolated harvest coming up and I skipped a harvest so the plants are super loaded.
It's been crazy around here this year. Wife just had resurgery on her ORIF. Seems to be going much better this time. First surgeon messed up pretty bad, so the new surgeon had to go in, rebreak both the tibia and fibula, reset the bone tips at the correct angle, remove a bone fragment left inside the ankle joint by the first surgeon, reset the ankle joint, remove scar tissue, take out his hardware, put smaller hardware in, and had to finally knick her achilles in a few places to make up for the two years of never bending her toes up towards her head. Yeah, its been nuts. Between all of that, landscaping, harvesting, deseeding, storing, building two websites, editing videos and photos, learning how to modify print carts and refill with third party matched inks, yeah...just need to get out and reset in the woods or something. Fall is certainly here in Ga.
Bolivia wild/lesser known capsicum hunting trip in December is a go. I leave Dec 4th and will be there a couple weeks. Been compiling a hit list of species targets, gps coordinates, known find locations, local names for varieties, etc. Should be just as good as Peru or better. Bolivia actually looks like Peru on steroids. Rugged, old old world. Incredible geography and ruins to see. Brown baccatums and exciting wild species. Will report back.
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Whoo-whoo! Happy trails, Guru.
