I attended a class on how to make kimchi on Saturday and didn't have anywhere to put it, so I just put it in my fridge until I had time to get a proper fermentation jar.

I'm off to get the jar right now...now they're supposed to be stored at room temperature, am I able to move the kimchi out of the fridge back to room temps, or is this not recommended? I was worried moving it to the fridge was a one way trip but I'm not sure.

My second question is - many guides I've read suggest the pickling brine should cover the vegies. But...I wasn't given enough brine to cover all the kimchi. Will this be ok, and if not, can I fill it with something else like clean water or whatever? Or is it also too late to be adding anything?

Thank you

I've been eating it so it should be safe. But I was concerned to give any to an elderly person just in case. It is red cabbage and the dill was scattered throughout and kind of turned a wilted black in places. Usually I just put it on the side of the jar but this time I mixed it throughout. I'm guessing no big deal but wanted to know if this black is just from the juices. Everything else looks and tastes fine. It seems fresh herbs kind of look crappy in general because I think they don't have the structure to hold up like vegetables.

Hi, first time ferment here so feel free to give any advice. I'm concerned that now on day 7 of fermentation my pH seems stuck at 4.5 for the last 3-4 days. Details:

I am using a stainless steel fermentation chamber from a Korean market with an air lock valve. I'm using hydrion test strips range 3-5.5

My recipe admittedly used probably too much salt. I miscalculated and ended up using 4.7% salt / total weight water + cukes (this was an accident I meant to do 3% but I decided to go with it cause I already mixed it up). Aside from distilled water and diamond crystal kosher salt, I used a recipe I have been making vinegared quick pickles with for years: there are cucumbers, a few cloves of garlic, a bay leaf, two dried Persian limes (limu omani), and some Sichuan peppercorns in there. It's been about 60-70 deg in my house. Stored in a dark place.

Around day 3-4, I checked it out. A few tiny bubbles. Smelled great. Not cloudy. PH about 5. Now it has been 3 more days and it has become more cloudy. Still smells amazing. Tiny taste of brine tastes great. But the pH has been stuck at 4.5 for past 3 days.

First of all I am worried that since it has taken so long to get to barely 4.5 pH, botulism could have grown during this time and created toxins. I know the bacteria will die once it becomes acidic enough, but couldn't there be botulinum toxins in there left over from if/when they were alive before it got acidic enough?

Second, I'm wondering why it's taking this long to get more acidic. Maybe a bit too cool in my house? Maybe I added too much salt?

I don't mind waiting to taste, but I am a scaredy cat for botulism and I will dump the whole batch if there's a chance it could be contaminated with toxins. That would be a shame because it smells and looks amazing right now.

I know a lot of people say you don't have to test pH and I respect that perspective completely. If I weren't a little bit of a hypochondriac I wouldn't bother. But this is where I'm at.

Thanks for any advice!!!

I started my first ginger bug in a brown swing top glass bottle a few days ago. I’ve fed it and added ginger every day and today I realized I wont be able to monitor if it gets moldy, so I switched to a clear glass jar. It was bubbling before I switched it, but now seems more still.

Now that I can actually see it the water is not very clear, is this normal?

After typing this I also realized I started it with honey and fed it brown sugar one day, so that could be why it’s not clear?

Can i eat it 😈

Can you make fermented soda from psychoactive plants and shrooms? 😁Did anyone try that? Would the active compounds just work as if in a water extract, or maybe less or more potent?

If anything making fermented soda instead of mushroom tea could help with common gastrointestinal issues with magic shroomies (I guess)

first time i used water kefir grains i purchased from reputable supplier i got some bubbles at final stage. I stored grains after that in sugary water in refrigerator. My refrigerator is very cold. I had them in a fridge for a week. I continued to make water kefir and grains eat sugar. So everything works well except no bubbles. I no longer keep grains in a fridge i just continually make water kefir. Any suggestion why no bubbles? i bottle kefir in small bottles and fill to the top.

I started a fermentation > 1 month ago and forgot about it. I think things are ok, there is some cloudiness in the liquid and some things floating around. Is this ok?

https://preview.redd.it/gfym21irv30e1.jpg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=501d2bb5b98298085b5f20a073191a59e563210e

https://preview.redd.it/bfosn3irv30e1.jpg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b380b67ec5260c2b29b7bea6d45bf948cc39fa1

It’s hab and strawberry hot sauce ferment. I started it September 7. I’ve been trying to skim this off the top and clean the inside as well as I can. (I also realize that I need to clean that outside rim which I’m about to do) Also maybe I’m cleaning up some beneficial bacteria? I have a mango hab hot sauce started the exact same day with no issues.

Hi there,

I've been doing water kefir with second fermentation for a couple of months and I'm happy with the results.

Recently I bought some generic IKEA glass bottles with a large and easy to open cap and I was really happy with them.... And then KAABBOOOOMM!! One catastrophically exploded on it's own and sent glass shards everywhere in my living room. It almost blew up in my face!

So, now I'm scared and I need to buy some heavy duty glass bottles. I really dislike using plastic ones...

Do you have advice on the type and brand of ideal fermentation bottles? I live in Europe/Portugal.

Thanks.

Less waste, and it's delicious!

Hello community,

Newbie here. Been experimenting with fruit scraps vinegar with success last year, but this year I forgot a very important part. I did the process of stirring daily until bubbles went away, kept them for two or three weeks, but then forgot to keep the fermentation going after removing the scraps - I bottled it directly. It tastes acidic and a bit unpleasant - it feels like the fermentation process could've continued.

Is there any way I can save the liquid/resume the fermentation? Would consuming it like this pose any risks?

thank you!

Simply 750g basil, 20g salt

Hey folks. Like the title says, I’m working on my first sauerkraut. All I used is salt, garlic and mustard seed. It is one day shy of a week in the jar and I’ve been burping it twice a day. I noticed today that the gas production is way down from the first couple days. Wondering if that is normal or if i should be concerned that the fermentation process has slowed down too much to continue. Thanks for your expertise!

So I am new to fermenting, and know that natto is basically the only food high in mk7 k2. I was wondering if I could add this culture to a regular lactofermentation and get the benefits of mk7 k2 in fermented onions, peppers etc. I would much rather eat these fermented foods than soybeans.

Question. I started some honey garlic jars 3 days ago. Fermentation is going great. I started 5 more jars today (I sell them locally at shows), and noticed that the jars I started the other day could really use a bit more garlic in them. Is it ok to add a few more cloves to each of those jars, being that it's only 3 days into the process, without messing up the fermentation process? Not many, maybe 5 or 6 cloves to each (as to keep the honey to garlic ratio about even)? Thoughts?

I get the big bags of loose pieces to make Hibiscus tea. I made a sweetened concentrate recently and let the last bit go to see what would happen. It's fizzy and tastes like Sangria. Do you think I could keep it going like kombucha, or will I need to make a new batch everytime?

Hi guys, I’ve been buying a reputable brand of raw sauerkraut from Whole Foods. It’s not pasteurized and supposed to be probiotic but I’ve noticed it never seems to off-gas.

Does that mean it’s not actually probiotic or can commercial operations stop fermentation while keeping the probiotics?

Thanks!