TLDR; Molasses + a pinch of Salt in a bottle of water is a remarkably good/cheap substitute for Hydration packets. George Washington made a refreshing low ABV "small" beer that is actually a pretty great electrolyte drink.

JFC. And he still had another bags worth on the plants. Baked potato for scale.

Ginger, cabbage, onion, and carrot.

No added spices or herbs.

So I’m a beginner fermenter and I’ve only made a couple batches of hot sauce in my one jar. I’ve only done 10-15 days because I’m impatient, but this jar I will hold for a whole month.

I know that there’s probably a huge difference between a months vs a year, but is there much of a difference in taste between 2 vs 4 weeks?

Sorry for the background mess, I just want to make sure that this might be safe to consume.

I collected some grapes out of a suburban road, seemed like a road that is not super used but definitely sees some activity probably on the daily.

I used those grapes to make an experimental soda starter and it bubbled like crazy, so I decided to try and make some soda out of it and it actually tastes really good and the fizz is super nice...but the fact it comes from the side of a road makes me a bit unsure if I can down this bottle.

Thoughts?

Cauliflower, green bell peppers, carrots, Serrano and guajillo chillies, oregano, rosemary. 2% brine. See you in a couple of weeks

Fermenting peppers onions and garlic to make a hot sauce and I’m seeing some white lines on some of the peppers and one of the glass weights. Nothing on top of the brine. Can anyone tell me what it is?

Hello, I just got my hands on some horseradish straight from the soil, and looking at how to preserve/process it. I will probably grate it down for this and recipes show to add vinegar, salt, sugar. I don’t have vinegar at home right now but I have loads of leftover pickle juice which has similar ingredients. Would this work the same or is there some science behind the reaction of adding separate ingredients at the same time of adding the grated horseradish?

Started a batch of pickles 1.5 weeks ago in a clean glass jar. Small cucumbers were submerged in 5% brine with garlic and grape leaves. The cucumbers were a mix of random ones someone left at the office and from my garden. Prepped the cucumbers with a thorough wash and by cutting off the ends.

Noticed bubbling and cloudy brine immediately- normal stuff. There was some kahm yeast on the surface (not fuzzy, looked like kahm i’ve seen before). But now there is a strong earthy smell, like mildewing leaves or maybe a little like a hippie incense store. It’s pretty nasty and I think this batch is a goner. The texture of some of the pickles is also squishy like a water balloon, or some of them feel firm like they’re full of gas.

Anyone know where I went wrong here?

It was a very hot and very wet summer.

My radishes grew huge but taste way too spicy.

Will fermenting give a decent product or should I just try again next year?

This ferment is basically a toddler at this point. We've moved house three times, and doing the math is probably four years old.

Looks and smells fine, when I cracked it open, it smelt very spicy but mellowed out quickly.

Pretty sure I added onion and garlic to the bottom.

1. Is this still safe in theory? In my head it's no different to a hot sauce that's gone on a long time.

2. Should I strain and blend? What is the next step here?

Thanks!

Freeze warning tomorrow. I now have an abundance of Hungarian and Banana peppers and a lot of green San Marzano tomatoes. What do y’all think? Just cut them up and brine them at 2.5-3%? I feel like I’m missing some opportunities by just doing that. Please share your awesome ideas or recipes.

I think my kimchi has come along nicely.

Only on day 5

I gave up on homemade sauerkraut a while ago due to a low success rate, but decided to give it another try. I used a fermentation crock that I meticulously cleaned with bleach before adding my cabbage and beet mix. I pushed the stones down to make sure everything was fully submerged. That was 5 days ago. I left it covered until today, but when I took a peek to see how it was doing... mold everywhere.

Any tips on what to do differently next time?

I have been fermenting for 4 weeks now, I do a 2 day f1 and a 2 day f2. During f1 there is a large amount of bubbles produced but after two days of f2 there is never any fizz at all, and the flavor is off not like store bought kefir at all, at first it was too sweet so I halved the sugar and it is a little better but it is still not kefir like in flavor, there appear to be bubbles when I shake it but again no fizz, I have tried refrigerating it and still nothing.

I also tried increasing fermentation time and nothing changed.

If anyone wants to know I use white cane sugar and have been adding raisins dried figs or brown sugar every few ferments. I also obtained the grains as dried grains online if anyone wants to know.

I really need help figuring out what to do, please can you contribute ideas.

Actually yummy

It seems to me that an egg incubator might work to make black garlic. They're meant for long-term use and to maintain temperatures and humidity for the entire time. I'm sure there must be a reason this wouldn't work, but I'm darned if I can figure out what that reason might be.

About 2 weeks with Jalapeños in honey. I read you don’t always see any bubbling. It tastes great. PH started and ended at 4 according to a diluted solution and Hydrion strips. How do I know if fermentation took place? I had a vacuum lid on.

Recipe I used is from the Dutch book "Fermentista" by Marta and Joanna Klejman.

I used: cherry tomatoes, red onion, gloves of garlic and basil. I couldn't get the salt water (2,5%) to cover everything even as I followed instructions to fill the jar until it flowed over and sealing it afterwards. So I found a ceramic cup from my grandma, sterilised it, and used it as a weight but I am going to buy proper weights soon.

According to the recipe, this should stay fermenting in a closed off jar for at least 7 days in a temperature between 18 and 22 degrees celsius. In those 7 days I have to clean both the jar and bowl with cold water daily. After that it goes in the refridgerator and will stay good until 8 weeks. My home is steadily 20 degrees celsius these days.

What worries me is that the recipe states the jar should be closed off airtight, but in this subreddit, I see everyone using stuff like waterslots and suggesting on letting things burp.

Is Gerda actually going to be okay? 🥲 Or will she explode?

I love kefir and got a pack of cultures (grains?) at my local health food/crunchy store the other day. Instructions say to heat the milk, let it cool, and add the contents of a packet and let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours. I'm sleepless in bed right now so I'm not copying the instructions exactly but I followed them to a T.

Everything I read says to strain the kefir "grains" out after the kefir ferments but how are people doing that? I can't keep wasting liters of milk. I was so excited by the lovely tang yesterday's attempt got but when I tried to run it through cheese cloth it all just sat on top. Any suggestions?

Like the title said, ants started to get into my ginger bug after 3 days of fermentation. I have since the place a plate of water on the bottom of the jar to prevent it and it's the 5th day now and fermentation seems pretty good. After some google search I figured I should probably discard it and make a new batch but it seems fine. So should i discard it or just keep it going? (there're like 20-30 ants inside, no mold or off-putting scent)

interesting process but honestly feel like the product was not entirely worth the effort. I fried it up (not pictured) and it was very mild, honestly tasted not far from normal tofu. maybe a little tangy with a somewhat softer texture (in a way thats distinct from soft tofu; hard to describe). pretty gnarly looking though

maybe next time I would extend process to make fermented bean curd (furu)