Oil separation?

Pepperjack91 · Dec 5, 2013

I started this mash 18 days ago. It seems to have finally started to ferment and I think it is going good. I am assuming that what I am seeing there near the bottom is oil separation and that it is perfectly natural. Am I correct? I need yall's experienced wisdom! I hope the picture is good enough..

salsalady · Dec 5, 2013

18 days to start to see bubbles is a little long. I'm not an expert on fermentation at all! just have read a lot....

The "voids" look to be normal liquid/solids separations, not oils....

Heisenberg · Dec 6, 2013

Yea the CO2 bubbles within the chopped peppers makes them light and float on top of the brine. I dont know if you have an airlock or not, if no, then shake it up to get all the air to the top, then burp the jar. If you do have an airlock, dont shake it, maybe swirl it to try to get the air to the top and the peppers back into the brine.

Pepperjack91 · Dec 6, 2013

salsalady said:
18 days to start to see bubbles is a little long. I'm not an expert on fermentation at all! just have read a lot....

The "voids" look to be normal liquid/solids separations, not oils....

Well I saw bubbles before day 18.. There have just been a lot more the past few days

Heisenberg said:
Yea the CO2 bubbles within the chopped peppers makes them light and float on top of the brine. I dont know if you have an airlock or not, if no, then shake it up to get all the air to the top, then burp the jar. If you do have an airlock, dont shake it, maybe swirl it to try to get the air to the top and the peppers back into the brine.

I don't have an airlock. It's kinda thick.. Could I stir it if I sterilized the spoon first?

Heisenberg · Dec 6, 2013

Pepperjack91 said:
I don't have an airlock. It's kinda thick.. Could I stir it if I sterilized the spoon first?

You shouldnt open a jar thats fermenting. If you dont have an airlock, just shake the bejeezus out of it and burp the container after. Do that about once a day as needed.

beerbreath81 · Jan 3, 2014

looks tasty, need an update, how is this coming?

Pepperjack91 · Jan 3, 2014

One of them spoiled because it was thicker than the other and I added lime juice like an idiot. The one seen in the picture is still doing ok I think.. Although the bubbles aren't coming as quick..

impending_bending · Jan 11, 2014

Heat that baby up and the bubbles should be raging. I've had ferments that appear to do nothing until I warmed them to around 85f. Did you use anything as a starter?

RocketMan · Jan 11, 2014

Good info all, +1

Yep, that's normal seperation which happens in all fermentation, we'll perhaps if you were to liquify everything first maybe not. Follow what heisen said and you'll be golden.