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fermenting My ferment Stopped, Help!

L

Litical

   So I have been fermenting for a little while now and have gotten my process down pretty well, that being said I just started my own company and changed my process from a cheese cloth top/leaving the top barely on to installing an airlock on all of my jars.
  
   My ferment started amazingly for about 3ish weeks and now for no reason my sauce has stopped bubbling with AMPLE amounts of sugars left in it and the ph is not yet at 4.6 which is required for me to sell it in my state to claim it as a high acidic food. The temp has been between 75-82 the whole time. I have never had this happen with my previous process, only with the airlocks
 
  
Any thoughts would be great!
  
 
 

only reason I can think of for the airlock not bubbling anymore is because of a leak somewhere. Grommet,lid, or side of airlock.
 
Anyone know of a good FOOD TYPE leak detector, Sugar based soap type thing...or something of the like?
 
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Are you sure it has stopped fermenting or just stopped bubbling? Ive found a lot of times since I started using an airlock, that the ferment doesn't release enough CO2 To make the bubbler bubble all the time only some of the time. Check the mash, is it still bubbling, rising? Good luck
 
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Yeah don't trust an air-lock to tell you when something is fermented, first mistake many home brewers make and they end up with bottles exploding everywhere! I would suggest that you keep checking the PH. If the other batches were trouble free then i cannot see how the addition of an air-lock would make any difference.
 
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Those were my thoughts also. the funny thing is with this batch the mash never came up at all! It bubbled ferociously for weeks...
 
Apparently I am in a time warp also cause I looked back at the bottling date and I have been fermenting for about 7 weeks...wow!
 
the taste does seem to get more acidic every week though so I guess I we see in another few weeks where I am. I just need this to finish soon so I can push more product. kind of scared to get a rotation going before this batch is complete...being a new process and all.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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chile_freak said:
Are you sure it has stopped fermenting or just stopped bubbling? Ive found a lot of times since I started using an airlock, that the ferment doesn't release enough CO2 To make the bubbler bubble all the time only some of the time. Check the mash, is it still bubbling, rising? Good luck
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I noticed this as well. Sounds like the fermentation activity is slowing a bit, which is normal. As long as it has not been contaminated with something that is antibacterial you should be fine. I have had very good pickles that had very little bubbles in the airlock. It bothered me at first, but the finished product was very nice, so all was well.
Oftentimes too much activity can be bad, because it says the temps might be too high.  Fermentation really is a science as different temps affect the different types of bacteria, and thus their activity. For veggie fermentation a bit lower temp is ideal, although it can vary from vegetable to vegetable. The amount of salt used also makes a difference. I like to control the temps as the finished product is ideal. To do so, I use a very large water cooler like you see on work trucks, and place my fermentation jar or jug inside with water almost up to the top of the jar, without the water contaminating the brew. I use a thermometer, and adjust with ice as needed. You can highly regulate it this way. Temps are very important to the brew.
 
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can you tell us what ingredients were in the ferment, and did you add innoculant or just let the ferment take place?
 
i assume you are using a decent pH meter to test with, has it been calibrated recently? it seems like if you got ferocious bubbling for 3+ weeks (which would be abnormal for my ferments, the active bubbling usually lasts 2 weeks at the most), I would be very surprised if your pH wasn't lower than 4.6. mine (and a few others on this board) almost always finish at a pH near 3.5.
 
also, tell us about your airlock setup. is it a white plastic lid, metal lid with ring, etc.? as suggested, it's certainly possible the CO2 is leaking, or the 'active'  part of the ferment is done, although I would guess that in most lactic ferments, pH change is concurrent with increased activity.
 
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AaronTT said:
I noticed this as well. Sounds like the fermentation activity is slowing a bit, which is normal. As long as it has not been contaminated with something that is antibacterial you should be fine. I have had very good pickles that had very little bubbles in the airlock. It bothered me at first, but the finished product was very nice, so all was well.
Oftentimes too much activity can be bad, because it says the temps might be too high.  Fermentation really is a science as different temps affect the different types of bacteria, and thus their activity. For veggie fermentation a bit lower temp is ideal, although it can vary from vegetable to vegetable. The amount of salt used also makes a difference. 
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I agree with this response from AaronTT 100%.
Don't panic by the lack of "bubbling"....if you've followed all the proper steps, it highly likely that all is well inside the ferment vessel.
Case in point....i just finished a ferment (using "airlocks") that never had any noticeable bubbling activity. When I opened and tested the pH, it was 3.5.
Relax....have patience...and "always" test the pH to be sure. 
Hell....I test the pH of commercial products all the time...just to be sure.
CM
 
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I frequently "feed" my ferments when activity slows. I just restarted a yellow-mash (Ranier cherries, yellow habs, yellow thais, 2012 Pinot Grigio) ferment by adding a pound of sliced hungarian wax peppers and within hours it was happily bubbling away again!
 
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hotstepper said:
I frequently "feed" my ferments when activity slows. I just restarted a yellow-mash (Ranier cherries, yellow habs, yellow thais, 2012 Pinot Grigio) ferment by adding a pound of sliced hungarian wax peppers and within hours it was happily bubbling away again!
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Just curious as to why you choose to "feed" the ferment (possibly to increasing the volume of fermented product and/or introducing additional flavors or texture?). Just because there's a reduction in the visible activity(bubbling) doesn't mean fermentation process ceases. Quite the contrary. Did you happen to check the pH when you added new ingredients to your ferment?
CM
 
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I'm aware that the ferment is still active, albeit at a more lethargic rate after the sugars've been somewhat exhausted. So the short answer is yes, it was mainly to bulk up the amount of product and build complexity. As your surely aware, after fermenting for a good while the solids break down and the brine starts to displace what was once the more solid fruit. So there becomes more room to add to bulk the product out more (pouring out brine as necessary). I also frequent the shops in my neighborhood (a heavily Bengali ethnic enclave) and can't resist buying when I see intriguing peppers — of which the beautiful Hungarian waxes were! On the pH question, I didn't check it yet. But I did give it a taste and it was nice, sour and citrus-y... I'm guessing it's dipping into the 4.5 range as of now.
 
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I envy the availability you obviously have to partake of the various peppers and veggies at local neighborhood shops. I lived in the Boston area for a while,and nearly drove my missus crazy with the different  things I brought home and put is a jar on the counter, then later took room in the fridge.
I don't have such where I live now. 
I'd love to see some pics and get some more details when you decide you have a finished product and do a taste test or two.
Much appreciated.
CM
 
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C-Monsta,
 
I'd love to share some of my finished product with you and get an opinion. I'm currently experimenting with dried pepper ferments and am enjoying very much these exciting biological processes applied to dehydrated peppers. Simply amazing and I find that it adds even more nuanced flavors to the product. I'm currently working on a dried pequin/honey/okinawa salt bubble, as well as a dried bhut jolokia/dried hab/(fresh) apple bubble/Utah mineral salt one.
 
Hawt!
 
hotstepper
 
yxR63fs.jpg
 
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Man...!! what a cool picture. Makes a fermenting fanatic's heart skip a beat.....
 
I've only used dried peppers a couple times to make a sauce, normally because I've always got an abundance of fresh pods I need to preserve.       But I use dried flakes and pods regularly in nearly all my other fermented veggie concoctions.
 
And yes I totally agree with you that there is a distinct flavor-character to a ferment that includes dried peppers.
More mellow??? smooth??? less bite???... but still retains the taste and heat associated with the particular species.
 
Do you process your finished products or just refrigerate...?
 
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Hey thanks! Yeah, I'm really loving the dried pepper ferments. I've also been dabbling in making homemade vinegars from fresh fruit that I'm looking forward to combining with my sauces soon! As far as refrigerating, since I'm relatively new to this particular obsession, I've just been bottling and storing in boxes in a cool part of the house. Do you recommend refrigeration? Most of my finished sauces have been at around the 3-3.5 pH range. I was kind of thinking that letting them age a little more wouldn't hurt... like a fine wine.
 
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Unless you have a root cellar, I would consider refrigeration to be essential, especially this time of the year.
 
Most folks today no longer have an 1800s style root cellar, cave, or a fermentation burial chamber in their backyard (popular in Korean for making kimchi), all of which never go above 50ºF or below 32ºF.
 
Our ancestor's (my grandma included) stored their fermented foods in root cellars, caves – even special underground pits, dug into the ground, where crocks of fermented food were stored. Our homes today typically don’t include a root cellar, and have heated basements, so the refrigerator is going to be the best long-term storage method.
As long as the temperature is in the 32ºF to 50ºF range, you may store it at that room temperature, but I never do so myself.The contents will continue to ferment and age in the fridge. I have several fermented sauces in my fridge that are over three years old. And I had a salad last night that included diakon radishes,onions and garlic that have been fermenting over a year.
 
But you can also cook the ferment and bottle it. There are several recipes and instructions posted on THP threads. Then it can be stored at room temperature, it just won't have live lacto bacteria in that instance.
CM
 
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Great advice. Thanks! I'm all about the probiotic qualities, so refrigeration might be my best bet.
 
I remember seeing an episode of "Bizarre Foods" where this factory in Sichuan province fermented bean/pepper paste outside in vats for up to eight years! They also leave the tops of on nice days... interesting. I'm sure there's an uber-high salt content which keeps nasties at bay.
 
http://themalaproject.com/pixian-chili-bean-paste-douban-jiang/
 
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