It might be an acquired smell but to me it says everything is going right.
Crack the lid to let off gas and it smells the house up.
Here are the tomatoes and garlic after about 8 days.
Right after gas release.
Look at those lovely bubbles.
The garlic skins did a great job keeping the product down.'
No mold and I decided to try them, couldn't wait.
I cant say enough good about them.
The ripe tomatoes are flavorful but mushy but I like them.
The green ones are crunchy.
The sun golds are out of this world.
Did all of this without buying any airlocks or burpers of any kind.
I have air locks but dont use them very often on these small jars.
The fermentation bacteria will still grow under pressure.

It's even more flavorful cold, the garlic really hits the spot in the flavor profile.
Cant wait to get down to one and eat it.
Since this is a very active first stage lacto bacteria ferment I can and will use the juice to back slop/kick start another batch of something.
This is a wild bacteria that was on the vegetables I put in as I didn't even come close to washing anything.

Started this Spaghetti squash, carrot, raisin, curry, garlic ferment June 12th, today I opened it. Delicious. 3.7 pH, no added vinegar. Wife that’s German (sauerkraut) has a hard time understanding how it’s become sour with no vinegar added. Lactic acid from the Lactobacillus produced in the ferment.

Other ferments such as yeast turn sugar in malted grain and fruit into ethanol so we get beer and wine. Acetic Acid (ethanoic acid) is produced from that yeast produced ethanol from a different bacteria.

This is how our ancestors preserved food. They Encouraged friendly and useful bacteria and organisms to produce waste products that exclude dangerous pathogens, mold, botulism, etc.

Really excited to have a few successful ferments under my belt. First one with cucumbers was a dud, but a trio of victories with peppers and now this squash has been so very gratifying.

One finished, start another.

This is “Adzhika, A Georgian Pepper Relish. This is a spicy pepper relish that varies a bit from region to region. Traditional adzhika is pickled with wine vinegar and usually canned, but it was easy to imagine a fermented version. This recipe is adapted from one in The Georgian Feast by Darra Goldstein. We were intrigued by the combination of cilantro, which feels like such an Asian herb, and dill, which seems quintessentially European. But the combination of dill with hot peppers —well, that rocked our world.”

From “Fiery Ferments” by Kirsten and Christopher Shockey. I have this Kindle book.

I used cayenne, Cowhorn, serrano, santa Fe grande, and fresno, besides the bell pepper.

karstopography wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 6:00 pm EF26C0DE-7729-4CA9-B196-B2DD2E3447EB.jpegOne finished, start another.

This is “Adzhika, A Georgian Pepper Relish. This is a spicy pepper relish that varies a bit from region to region. Traditional adzhika is pickled with wine vinegar and usually canned, but it was easy to imagine a fermented version. This recipe is adapted from one in The Georgian Feast by Darra Goldstein. We were intrigued by the combination of cilantro, which feels like such an Asian herb, and dill, which seems quintessentially European. But the combination of dill with hot peppers —well, that rocked our world.”

From “Fiery Ferments” by Kirsten and Christopher Shockey. I have this Kindle book.

I used cayenne, Cowhorn, serrano, santa Fe grande, and fresno, besides the bell pepper.

I don't claim to be a profit, palm reader or fortune teller but I see a small German style Fermenting crock in your future.
Nothing like hearing them burp in a quite house all day and night for a few weeks.

The Adzhika relish was a big success. Very active ferment and one that I had used the lowest concentration of salt so far. 9 grams of sea salt for ~370 grams of vegetables, no added water. The aroma from the ferment was mouthwatering and changed over the 7 days. Ended up with really nice complex and appealing flavors. Heat level is between a one and two, closer to two. One, being barely hot, two is hot enough to get your attention without being alarmingly hot.

Thinking of pairing this with a grilled filet of beef tenderloin.

I did a long term sauerkraut experiment that has been going on for about 3 years or so, maybe 4.
Made it in a jar and put the lid and ring on it and burped it till it stopped.'Then just set it aside and left it alone.
The top part would go down as it aged.
Today I opened it not knowing what to expect.
No mold.
Great smell took off the top part and tasted the better looking bottom.
Tasted and smelled like a very good sauerkraut no spoilage and still had a good texture.
Tossed the experiment.

Just tasted my fermented beets. I think I had them on the counter two weeks,maybe three. I need to start putting dates on things but I usually go by taste,smell and bubbles. They came out really good! This was my first time growing beets. I was amazed at how productive a short row was, especially when you add in the greens. We had quite a few sides of beets,beet greens and two quarts of fermented beets all from about a 10 foot row. I planted them in December. Pulled up the last of them two weeks ago.
I was also surprised that my husband liked them since he didn’t think he liked beets. Turns out he loves home grown steamed or fermented beets and greens with eggs are one of his favorite breakfasts!

I've been thinking about doing some fermented stuff - sauerkraut, kimchi etc. Does anybody have experience with those airtight fermenting lids? I don't really want to deal with a water bath etc.

Example of what I'm talking about:

https://www.masontops.com/products/comp ... nformation

I like these masontops system. Very simple to set up and use. Haven’t had a bad ferment since using these. Gasses that build up can escape as the jars gain pressure, but the gas movement is out of the jar and not the other way around. What’s nice is that the fermentation aromas come out, faintly, through the valve and that’s helpful with assessing the progress of the fermentation.

Sister Pickles made a first try at fermenting pickles. She used a half gallon jar with airlock and followed the directions exactly. During the three week recommended ferment we hardly saw any bubbles. The recipe said it was a very slow ferment and might take an extra week. We waited the extra week. Today she opened up the jar and sliced one to try. The flavor was decent but they were waaaaaaay too salty. Out they went. Time for a new recipe.

GoDawgs wrote: ↑Sat Jul 04, 2020 11:59 am Sister Pickles made a first try at fermenting pickles. She used a half gallon jar with airlock and followed the directions exactly. During the three week recommended ferment we hardly saw any bubbles. The recipe said it was a very slow ferment and might take an extra week. We waited the extra week. Today she opened up the jar and sliced one to try. The flavor was decent but they were waaaaaaay too salty. Out they went. Time for a new recipe.

Just cut back on the salt that is the reason the activity was slow I imagine.
Try a brine of about 1 and 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of salt per quart of water, wait 5 days and see what that does for you.
It will make a nice deli style pickle.
Here is a good read on it by Sandor Katz.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... M13NrFnLnx
Many of these old recipes call for way too much salt.
The USDA calls for 3 tablespoons for 5 pounds of cabbage I use the 2 tablespoons per 5 pounds from the instructions that came with my crocks.

One point of trouble I see in these ferment recipes is the unit of measurement being used. Tablespoons are a unit of volume and the actual weight of the salt will vary depending on the grind of the salt. Could be 14 grams or less if coarse ground, could be 17 grams or more if fine ground.

I’ve gone to just going with metric grams weight. Last ferment, I had 370-380 grams of vegetables/liquid total to which I added 9 grams of salt, bypassing any confusion about volumes. 2.3-2.4 percent salt to produce resulted in a nice strong and tasty finished relish, this all at around 75 degrees room temperature.

Metric grams by weight is way easier simply because it’s consistent. I guess ounces by weight would be good, but there’s decimals to contend with. The volume measures are just a huge variable, the grind, how tightly packed is the vegetables mix. Too much room for mess ups going from one individual to another.

All of my measurements are with canning salt that I have weighed and came out consistent with the volume.
I even tested with RCBS gun powder beam scales and did the conversion.
They dont make those scales anymore.
I found one set of measuring spoons to be so far off I threw them in the trash.

No, I get it. I tend to never have the same salt over time in my cabinet. It might be sea salt from one place or kosher salt from someone else. Grinds vary, very coarse to fine or flaky. Measuring by weight helps when the salt isn’t consistent on the grind.

The measuring by volume, both on the brine and the vegetables, just made me nuts with the inconsistencies between recipes online or in a book. Calling for quart of chili peppers in a recipe seems almost meaningless if one batch is coarsely chopped and loosely packed and another finely chopped and tightly packed. Just a couple percentage points off on the salt concentration can throw off the whole ferment.

I think experienced fermenters just know the right amount of salt to vegetables ratio without a lot of careful weighing or measuring. Me, maybe others, need the crutch of weighing it all out. I’m a salt lover, I’d soon just die rather than go low sodium on a diet, so I am prone to adding more salt than maybe what’s called for.

I stopped telling one guy I know how to ferment for one good reason.
He didn't do what I told him to do the first time.
He came back and said it was a disaster, to salty or what ever.
I asked him why, did you do exactly what I told you to do?
Yes.
What did you do?
Well I got the stuff and went on line Facebook and someone said so and so and.-----
So you didn't do what I said?
Well yes sort of but.
But what, did you wash the cucumbers I told you not to?
I washed them because so and so said.
Did you put the right amount of salt in.
Yes but I added more to make sure and this other recipe on line said.
Really?
Did you shake the jar I told you not to.
Yes.
Why?
Someone said to.
Etc etc etc.
Then he goes around telling people he tried my recipe and it didn't work, that I am holding something back.
This is the gospel truth.

KathyDC wrote: ↑Sat Jul 04, 2020 11:29 am I've been thinking about doing some fermented stuff - sauerkraut, kimchi etc. Does anybody have experience with those airtight fermenting lids? I don't really want to deal with a water bath etc.

Example of what I'm talking about:

I use the silicone lids with a nipple in the middle. They work great and are cheap on amazon. There are several brands of them. You hold them in place on a wide mouth jar with the jar ring.
I also like using one of the glass weights to hold things under the brine when making ferments in a canning jar.
I also have some crocks,two one gallon and a 2.5 gallon. I like them for bigger things like our peppermash ferments and sauerkraut.

Just got the wild idea of fermenting some onions like you would make sauerkraut.
Don't ask how much salt I used I have no idea.
Maybe two teaspoons.
Probably too much.
Time will tell.'
Onions are cheap and they won't ruin.
Cut up the onions in rings and put them in a bowl.
Four of them.
Sprinkled salt and let sit for a bit.
Loaded jar a little at a time and tamped down like you would with cabbage.
Added the root end too for what ever bacteria that might be on them.
Added some fluid from my tomato ferment.
Put skins on too for cover.
Put lid on.
Fermented onions are the bomb.
Fantastic on hotdogs.

As you can tell I am still alive from testing that 3 or 4 year old sauerkraut experiment I did with no ill effect.
The reason I did it was to prove a point.
Fermenting is safer than canning if you mess up you will know it and no way on earth will you even think of putting it in your mouth.

Got action on the onions in 24 hours.
Jar had pressure on it and bubbles.