That's a nice mix of peppers for your mash hammerfall.
I recently used freeze dried kefir starter for the first time,and have not used the grains for a vegetable ferment before...but have considered doing so.
Here's a couple Kefir observations:
I added 1/2-tsp of the starter to a 1/2 Gal. batch along with a 3.6%brine solution.
After about 10 hours I had some very hearty bubbling action underway,and the salt didn't appear to have much of an impact on the C02 in that particular fermentation.
However,when I used the exact same ingredients proportionally for a 2 Gal. batch, I observed very little bubbling action over the course of 2-1/2 days at 80 degrees.
So...I would really be interested in the amount of salt you've used in proportion to the amount of peppers, or if you used a brine, what percentage(or water/salt ratio)you added.
Note:
Personally,I use airlocks most(like 95%) of the time because it is my understanding that the C02 produced during the fermentation forces any and all oxygen out of the container, therefore depriving any of the toxic bacteria an environment where it can exist.
I'm not sure if a balloon set-up like you have described is used in wine and beer ferments, will result in the complete displacement of all the oxygen...so some mold/yeast growth may occur.
Also, when you change your airlocks during the process, you have introduced oxygen once again, and if the pH level is not yet acidic enough (lactic acid or salt), some toxic bacteria might still be able to survive and reproduce and spoil the ferment.
Good luck to you...and please keep us posted.
CM
Ok here's a near daily update
to answer some question i use 6% salt by weight for the brine.
i didnt add too much water just enough to have some water over the peppers to help protect them from air contact.
some use less salt in the brine but i prefer a longer fermentation time but a good one and im not too worried about the bad bacteria in this mix.
my kefir grain is a super lactobacterius generator so it pass or fail
Ok here's some picture of my fast first day ferm vessel (i use it this way because the primary fermetation is usually more bubbling and generates a lot of CO2 in the "system" once the co2 is set in there it makes a blanket over the juice since CO2 is heavyer than oxygen.
so the basic here to make the oxygen leave is preety simple... i pulll a bit of the rubber band, (just a bit) and squeeze the ziploc which is inflate by the co2 and some oxygen that was in tehre in the beginning. so by squeezing the air is force outand while i press the ziploc i also push down my spice bottle in the middle to make enven more co2 bobble get out of the mash. and when there is not anymore "air" i make the rubberband seal tight the neck of the jar.
later on i repeat 12 hrs later since the fermentation as made inflate my ziploc bag...
Here's a picture of my interesting plate..... (check the white line between the juice and the peppers...)
it,s a yougourt cover that i have cut to the jar size so i put that over my mash to ensure that i have a pressure plate (combine with the weigth of the spice container over it) so i dont have too much floaties that could be in contact with air thus giving some bad bacteria a chance to multiply.
Basically at day 2 tehre is nice bublling, color start to change from atomic green to a green which is more olive color but my juice is turning more yellowish and everything seems under control... it will be like that for days tilll the ph as drop and bubbling as stop.
Next update later
If you have any questions dont hesitate!
