Hi folks - I started my first two ferments about a week ago, and they've both been behaving completely differently. This should be a great learning curve, and I'm looking for advice on one of them in particular.
The first ferment is 100% red jalapeno with 4% salt, I've got it in a very small 12oz jar with an airlock on top. Kahm yeast started growing on top, so I scraped it off, put a little plastic baggy with water inside to submerge the peppers, and rebottled. It's been fermenting great - including overflowing through the airlock once - but despite the challenges I think it will be fine.
The second ferment is what I need help with: it's a mash of 18 habaneros, 1 carrot, and 2 shallots with 4% salt, in the same size jar with an airlock. It doesn't appear to be fermenting at all after a week. The inverted cap inside the airlock hasn't moved, so I don't think it's generating CO2, there's no fermenting smell, no milky liquid visible - very little liquid at all compared to the jalapeno mash.
I didn't use a brine or any kind of starter/culture for these two.
Any suggestions for how I can kick-start this habanero mash and get it fermenting?
Thanks in advance! Here's a pic of the two ferments when I first jarred them - the overeager jalapeno mash is on the left, the stubborn habanero mash on the right:
The first ferment is 100% red jalapeno with 4% salt, I've got it in a very small 12oz jar with an airlock on top. Kahm yeast started growing on top, so I scraped it off, put a little plastic baggy with water inside to submerge the peppers, and rebottled. It's been fermenting great - including overflowing through the airlock once - but despite the challenges I think it will be fine.
The second ferment is what I need help with: it's a mash of 18 habaneros, 1 carrot, and 2 shallots with 4% salt, in the same size jar with an airlock. It doesn't appear to be fermenting at all after a week. The inverted cap inside the airlock hasn't moved, so I don't think it's generating CO2, there's no fermenting smell, no milky liquid visible - very little liquid at all compared to the jalapeno mash.
I didn't use a brine or any kind of starter/culture for these two.
Any suggestions for how I can kick-start this habanero mash and get it fermenting?
Thanks in advance! Here's a pic of the two ferments when I first jarred them - the overeager jalapeno mash is on the left, the stubborn habanero mash on the right:
