Made my first batch of fermented tomatoes. Roma tomatoes, garlic, a small sprig of dill, a big sprig of basil, and some sweet onion chunked up. Plus a bay leaf to try to keep things from getting mushy (didn't much help...shrug). Fermented one jar for 5 days, one for a week, both are out. Of. This. World. Amazing! They will definitely be a staple in my home.

I don't think i've had a fermented tomato since high school in the 70s, when our Bio teacher brought some in that he was mighty proud of - as well he should have been, too.

I highly recommend them!

I recently got into the hobby and am making my first brew. After sanitizing and adding everything but yeast to my fermentation vessel I found out that all the yeast I had ordered arrived dead. I put the airlock on and intended to order new yeast the next day. Then life happened and it slipped my mind. After a few days, spontaneous fermentation appeared to have kicked in and my brew is bubbling away. Will this be safe to drink when fermentation ends?

All instruments and vessels were sanitized with Star San. Included in the brew are mashed blackberries and orange peel both just washed in cold water, molasses, sugar, and (I know) Dr. Pepper, pH fixed with baking soda.

Using fresh lemon and/or lime squeezings, sugar, water, and a pinch of EC-1118 yeast, shake, cap. let sit 24-36 hours - sometimes it works, most times it doesn't. More yeast 24 hours later doesn't help. Clean bottles, same tap water, same ambient temp of 73-77 - what other variable am I missing?

Ginger ale almost always works. Steeped grated ginger (optional allspice), strained, add sugar and 2-3X more tap water to dilute, optional fresh citrus juice, more sugar or water to taste, cap, wait ~36 hours. Sometimes the wait is longer but it always works.

Is it the acid content of the citrus?

So I made grapefruit ginger bug soda on 1LT flip top bottles. After a day it had carbonated a lot so it went in the fridge. Since then (5 days ago) i've been burping them A LOT so I can open them without a mess. By a lot I mean i've been burping them like 10 times a day, and everytime they start to foam up quickly. It doesn't matter how slowly I release the gas, it starts foaming up violently. I was hoping if I release enough gas, eventually I can open them without issues.

Yesterday I burped one of them like every 5 minutes for 2 or 3 hours. Then I decided to open it and it exploded everywhere. I managed to salvage like 200ml of totally flat drink.

I've been burping the otherone regularly in hopes that I can eventually open it and finally enjoy it with proper carbonation. Is there a trick to it?

FYI this is how I made it:

1.5 Lt water

200g white sugar

1/2 cup active ginger bug

Juice of 4 grapefruits

This is my third or fourth batch of ginger bug soda btw

edit: also, an extra question: While this is my fourth batch of soda, i've also tried regular ginger beer before, but it never carbonates. The sodas are proof that the ginger bug is active and that the process "works", but somehow regular ginger soda (without any fruit) just never carbonates. I thought maybe the fruit added more sugar, so I tried ginger beer with more sugar and didn't carbonate either. Any ideas?

Hi, I am looking to continually make Bulgarian yogurt every week using a culture starter from the previous batch. I originally started with a freeze dried starter I bought.

I understand that the starter needs to be kept in the fridge and ideally used in about 7 days. What if I go out of town for 2 weeks though?

Is there a way to preserve my starter without it spoiling?

Can I freeze my starter and then add to my next batch of yogurt?

I’m thinking something like a tea, coconut or oat milk based ferment might be interesting to try, maybe mixed in with clay to make face masks. Don’t exactly know what the live culture would benefit to the skin.. but seems like a fun experiment and deep dive for historic recipes. Has anyone made this work for them or know of any common/traditional ferments for skincare?

I've been fermenting/brewing since a year now. Just have my ginger bug ready to go. Can use Cheong that I made in July 2023 for flavour? They taste delicious but do smell slightly alcoholic.

I made sauerkraut a couple months ago and although it is sour, it tastes inadequately salty and is crunchy. I am wondering if adding more salt now would help? It if it's too late?

I’ve had 4-5 goes at this using cabbage, ramsons (using their own liquid for brine) and onions, beets (adding a brine). Salt is pickling salt at 2.5%, bottled spring water (when adding brine), sits at room temp in a dark cupboard. Starts getting bubbly and ph lowers to 5-6, but then never gets any lower regardless of how long I leave it.

Anyone have any ideas on what I’m doing wrong here? And can I add vinegar after a few weeks to bring the ph artificially lower?

https://youtube.com/shorts/K6eQx_ez758?si=6wlNBONFW74u2MS3

Hello,

I have made my first batch, but there is room for improvement. At the moment, the ginger beer has little carbonation although the fermentation process has happened. How can I improve this to be more consistent?

Thanks

The bug is bubbling like normal and upon opening jar it doesn't smell bad, just smells like a diluted ginger beer (that makes sense to me though).

I was really excited to make my first ever sauerkraut three days ago (cabbage, sea salt and caraway seeds) in a clip top jar and it's been in a dark corner at about 18°C. I've been burping the jar once or twice a day but tonight I found a shard of broken glass and it seems my jar has exploded 😭 What did I do wrong? I assume I have to toss the rest of it now? I'm so disappointed! Any advice would be appreciated!

Put these on the shelf before going away for a week. They were very active since my tray caught the overflow. The brine at the top is a little murky brown.

I’ve watched a couple YouTube videos and I think it’s fine. No sign of mold, I think it smells good but the oregano coming through kinda throws me off. Wanted to check here if anyone’s had a similar batch. All jars sanitized and looking the same. Regular sauerkraut made at the same time from same cabbage is fine.

2% salt White cabbage Carrot Red onion Oregano Jalapeño

When I ferment red onion I get a lot of murkiness, so I thought purple red onion murkyness plus oregano and jalapeño could equal brown?

so I put some ripe plums with sugar in a 90% dry glass jar. the sugar is just past halfway dissolved, but the gag is, the syrup smells very strong. like it tastes okay when I add it to some sparkling water, but in the jar it smells so strong. is this an indication that things went wrong and are becoming alcohol-ly?

Started these 2 garlic honeys in December. The one on the right was just garlic and honey and the one on the left has ginger in it. I never got ph.

Is that white stuff on the bottom bacterial or an issue?

Hi,

speaking of parallel multiple fermentation we are usually referring to sake. I was wondering if what happens in the production of miso can also be considered as such given that fermentations carried out by bacteria and yeasts take place and at the same time the enzymes created by Aspergillus continue to break down starches, proteins and fats.

I've searched and saw several quick carrot stick posts... I started some 3 days ago, they smell good and got bubbles, but pH is reading ~5 ... Give them a few more days, or ok to try now? For shorter fermentations is pH not much of a concern?
Thanks! Always learning...