Femeneration Station General #1

On its way to getting happy.

Hypothetically the SCOBY is supposed to be fine for months as long as it's in an acidic solution, so I'll probably just add some sugar to the ~liter of kombucha it's in right now. The starter is a little more tricky, I just fed it and I'll let it sit somewhere warm for 12 hours or so before it goes back in the fridge.

True but I don't trust my university housing refrigerator to stay on.

Just watched a video on fermented soybean paste, that shit looks interesting, you get soy sauce as well

Where'd you get your scoby from? I've been wanting to get one but don't know the best place to get it.

Check farmers' markets and see if they have a kombucha stand, they'll practically pay you to take one from them. Otherwise you can order a dehydrated one online but that's a little tougher to start with.

I usually ferment it for a week or so. But it can be fermented from 2 days up to months (or years).

If you pulled my arm, I’d say I used a quarter cup of pineapples per 4 cups of chopped peppers.

>If you pulled my arm, I’d say I used a quarter cup of pineapples per 4 cups of chopped peppers.

That's interesting... first time hearing about putting it in fermented hot sauce. Does it take on a sweeter taste too, or does the lacto consume all the sugar so you only get subtle notes of the pineapple?

i just bottled my cider. I'll be drinking it for Christmas

Pics?

I would like to thank the fermented hot sauce guy. You gave me hints and hopes to try it again after several painfully disappointing attempts.

My first (and so far only) attempt at preserving food turned out pretty good. Used lactic acid for the fermentation itself. Boiled the jars in water for sterilization.

Making toasted oat and blueberry kvass. Put like 1/4 cup of sugar and a half pack of baking yeast in so idk if that's too much yeasty action but we'll find out in two days. The question is whether or not I should strain or filter off the glutanous yeasty mother at the bottom when I deem it finished. Any kvass tips? I've obviously never done this before.

I read this with the voice of Boris.

Smells cheeki breeki tho

I have a scotch bonnet ferment that's been going for about 2 1/2 months now. plan to blend soon and will post here.

>Every good general thread needs some faggot shitposting to encourage the opposite viewpoint.
this, I've come to expect him in every ferment thread

>t. Soyboy

>2 1/2 months now

Wow, I guess I need to try to go longer. This is a mango/garlic/habanero that I'm blending tomorrow after 1 1/2 months. Smells great. Maybe next year I'll try an extended fermentation. I'll show when I blend if this thread is still alive.

Home brewing difficult to get into? I don't have a lot of room for huge setups. In fact, if there's some type of brewing I can do with only mason jars that would be pretty awesome.

I have a bigass jar of kimchi that I made last September in my fridge, desu I'm scared to taste it

...

It'll probably be a little soggy, but still quite edible. Just make sure to test it properly before taking a huge ass bite.

Visual test - Look for any fuzzies growing. If not, next step.
Smell test - If you're sickly gagging, don't eat. If not, next step.
Taste test - Little bit on your tongue. If it's pleasant tasting, good to go.

If it doesn't smell off and there is no visable bullshit then try a small piece and once you discover that it's yummy you'll have no choice to dig in. After that you'll be less intimidated next time. Keep in mind this is real food, so while there are dangers, overall it's better for your health than the standard garbage marketed to us in 2017

Covered it up with a scarf, my dad does that with his beer so maybe that'll prevent -I don't know what I'm doing.

Making sauerkraut. Day 5. I added a little too much salt, but it's getting pretty good tasting.

absolutely love sauerkraut but usually dont buy at the store because the store kraut is pasteurized -will try to make some homemade kraut, love adding kraut to ..pretty much everything

Saurkraut is easy as shit. I'll be making another batch when we pick our fall cabbage in a week or two. Although serious eats gets shit on here, their sauerkraut recipe is spot on.

*forgot link

seriouseats.com/amp/recipes/2016/12/homemade-fermented-sauerkraut-recipe.html

Bookmarked. Will try.

So, i dont mean to be that botulism guy but Im pretty paranoid about it, like I throw away pickles after 3 months in the fridge.
Is it 100% impossible for botulinum to form in a salty or acidic solution?
I'd love to try fermentation but I'm afraid it won't be safe.

>Is it 100% impossible for botulinum to form in a salty or acidic solution?
No but there will be visual hints as well as taste/smell evaluations that will let you know if something has gone wrong
If you eat just a little bit of something gross it won't kill you. Remember that you've evolved to eat all kinds of bullshit

I really like the taste of soured milk like in finnish pimma and russian prostokvasha.

what's the easiest way to make soured milk?
are there any dangers to just leaving out whole milk until it gets chunky and fermented? because i'm down to do that.

I wonder what will kill more people over the medium term this general or the fast food threads.

Great idea for a thread OG

I tried making kefir once and it was great for a while then the worms came

I’d like to make kimchi though. Anyone made their own fish sauce?

> If you eat just a bit of something it won’t kill you

Science bitches

>t. asshole neighbor Vadim

>Home brewing difficult to get into?
Not at all.
>I don't have a lot of room for huge setups.
You don't really need a lot of room.
>brewing I can do with only mason jars
Not really worth it, imo.

Regardless, home brewing can be as simple or complicated as you want to make it.

>I'm afraid it won't be safe.
If you can either see, smell, or taste, then there is NO g'damn reason why you can't ferment and store your own foods. Shit doesn't go bad without giving you some indication it's bad, dude.

Sigh. If the ph is high enough (acidic) it is impossible for the botulism spores to grow and produce toxins. Botulism spores exist in virtually every square centimeter of soil but they don't grow and produce toxins unless they have a non-acidic and low oxygen environment. Lacto fermentation when done with a propper salinity (2-5% depending on the vegetable) increases ph rapidly enough that it's not an issue.

Otoh, the notion that you can smell, taste or distinguish botulism by appearance is entirely false. In fact, 2 oz of botulism toxin is enough to kill every human on earth. If you took a tiny nibble of botulism contaminated food, you'd be dead.

Having said that, humanity has been fermenting vegetables and meats for thousands of years. If you pay attention to detail it's perfectly safe. You have a much greater likelihood of being killed in a car wreck or by gunshot (in the US) than dying from fermented vegetables.

tl;dr you can't detect botulism toxin but it's a non-issue in lacto fermentation of vegetables.

Nothing difficult about it, as long as you keep your stuff clean and sterile (pro tip: StarSan). I recommend starting with a regular 30 liter brewing bucket. Works fine for both cider, wine and beer. Start with any ale kit from cooper's (ale ferments well in room temperature, lager needs much lower temperature), change the yeast for US-05 (very neutral and efficient yeast) and brew away. Coopers also sell excellent pet bottles that saves the hassle of handling and capping heavy glass bottles. When you have a handle on extract brewing you can move on to real malt brewing if you want, but that needs a lot more space.

>Sigh
don't do this
> If you took a tiny nibble of botulism contaminated food, you'd be dead.
false, people survive it all the time

That would just make the milk rot. Very nasty. You want to add some kind of lactobacillus strain and let it sour in the right temperature before refrigerating. The taste depends wholly on what lacto strain you use.

Quick correction. Low pH = acidic, High pH = basic.
With fermentation, you want a low pH because the acids act as a preservative and destroy bad bacteria.

Common mistake, don't worry about it.

Any tips of making Mead?

By the way... if you guys are looking for a cheap pH tester, walmart has one for $10. It's not something everyone wants or has to do, but if you're concerned about the pH level of your concoctions and know the range you need to be in... hey... it's something good to have. I think I might order one this weekend just to make sure all my ferments are in line.

walmart.com/ip/ESYNIC-Digital-PH-Meter-Tester-Test-Pen-Portable-0-00-14-00pH-Measurement-Range-Water-Tester-Pocket-Pen-LCD-Monitor-ATC-Drinking-Water-Aquarium-Pool/558271563?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=12066&adid=22222222227099126777&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=235322789457&wl4=pla-389134571918&wl5=9031262&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=117097247&wl11=online&wl12=558271563&wl13=&veh=sem

Looks like a good jarring job user.

Just a tip in case anyone didn't know. (and I don't know if you did this yourself).. when you heat lacto fermented foods, it kills the lacto culture. However, there's still a benefit to it. While alive lacto bacteria is great for gut health... dead lacto culture acts as an anti-inflammatory for your gut. So, live culture is great for combating immune pathogens, and dead culture reduces gut bloat if that's something for suffer from.

Either way, fermenting is fucking great for you.

Kvass user here, it's only been a few hours since I put the yeasty concoction into a jar and I've got these floaty duders. Still smells great but idk about floaties...

Scrape them off before they grow any larger. It's probably harmless, but better safe than sorry, right? Once they're gone, let the natural acids do their thing and kill any remnants.

Good thinking, I'll go clean the fuck out of a spoon and skim them. I'm not really planning on it working out because I have no clue what I'm doing but it's fun

We all learn together brother. Fermenting is trial and error.

Not fermentation, but another user asked about pickled eggs in another thread, so I thought I'd share my favorite recipe for them here:

Here's my full recipe:

Ingredients:
About a dozen or so eggs + Large mason jar
about 1:1 of white vinegar to apple cider vinegar, totaling about a quart (enough to cover eggs)
half tbsp of brown sugar
1 tsp celery salt
1tsp salt
pinch of black peppercorns
pinch of allspice (don't go overboard)
just a few dashes of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon of whole mustard seed
like a sprig of fresh dill if you have it, if not a dash of dry will work
2-3 cloves garlic, each one chopped in half
1/4 cup white onion, finely minced
(optional) dash of paprika

Start the eggs to hardboil (shouldn't have to tell you how, but don't have gooey or overcooked eggs for this), and combine everything besides the eggs in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer while the eggs boil. You don't need to turn your ingredients into mush, just sort of activate them, so remove from heat after about 5 minutes.Peel eggs, careful not to damage the outside, rinsing off any shell. Place the eggs into the jar, and pour the hot spice/vinegar solution over your eggs. Cool in an ice bath (needs to get below 40F in

Found this article. Just skimmed it quick, haven't read too much into it or more importantly it's sources but I thought I'd drop it here so I can read it later.

wildfermentationforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3654

Pickled egg? Sounds funky. Gonna do it.

I'll be starting a nee Cider brew this weekend. I'll post update pics.
Any suggestions or requests?

I want to get into lacto-fermenting, but i don't know where to start. I'm thinking just started with pickles.
Can i get some recipes or a a general guide?
I didn't see one in the OP

>Ate a full plate of my homemade curry-kraut last night.
>Had thermonuclear farts in the middle of the night.
>Had to sleep in the guest room.
For science, lads! For science!!

>Having a SO to kick you out of bed
2D or bust

I've had this habanero, mango and garlic fermenting in a 5% brine since 11/1 so I'm bottling today. You can see there was a piece of mold that had formed and the brine had dehydrated so some of the top peppers were above the brine. I skimmed off the mold and removed the pieces above the brine.

This is what it looked like after I cleaned it up.

I blended it and am adding about 20% vinegar to get it shelf stable.

Hey fermentbros, who /bubbies/ here?

Funneled into a bottle. Surprisingly it was a bit harsher than the carrot/garlic I had made earlier but they were homegrown carrots and were really sweet. The mango I used wasn't as sweet.

>I didn't see one in the OP

I'll get one in there next thread. Some recipes too.

That's some good looking hot sauce. Cheers for not binning it and just scraping off the mold. As long as it smells and tastes fine, it's fine. Bunch of chumps would have tossed it.

>t. anaerobic spore former

>just scraping off the mold.

Yeah, I've done a lot of sauerkraut and am familiar with skimming the mold off the top and living to tell about it, so that shit doesn't phase me. I think that sauce will get better as it mellows over time. Thanks for the compliment.

Thinking about making sauerkraut this weekend.

Tips?

shredded cabbage with 2~5% salt by weight massaged in then well packed into a jar. caraway seeds or juniper berries are often sprinkled in. Tips wise just have a good weight and follow system.

here is a pic of a kraut i made with some carrot added. third batch of kraut I've made and by first taste might be the best.

I bottled my scotch bonnet hot sauce today as well.
was 1 1/2lb peppers with a bunch of green onions and an inch of fresh ginger.
dumping the set

no sign of mold. has been fermenting since early october. used a 5% salt by weight of veggies.

separated the solids and liquid to prepare blending. saved the liquid to blend into the sauce for consistency.

blended it for several minutes to get everything well incorporated. the idea for this hot sauce was to just use the the basic fresh ingredients needed for jerk wet rubs. it smells and looks about right

Thanks user. If I get to it this weekend I'll post pictures. Maybe next weekend. Feeling a little froggy in the throat, might be fighting something off.

here it is bottled with some left out to taste.
I don't use any vinegar after fermenting to shelf store.
instead I put it in the fridge to slow the fermentation to a crawl

had to taste it before ending the night.
its pretty damn hot and the heat sits for a while, almost 5 minutes.
it's got a good taste, though it's a bit over salty.
next one I make will use 3% salt by weight.

Looking good man. Vibrant color.

>Is it 100% impossible for botulinum to form in a salty or acidic solution?
If pH is below 4.6 then yes. Salt inhibits its growth.

>saved the liquid to blend into the sauce for consistency
Did you by chance take a note of how much liquid you added ?

Will report in 3 weeks the status of the hot sauce you made me want to make.

im sorry, worms came out of the kefir?

i see a little worm peeking out dere user :D

Did anyone here try making garum at home?

Does lacto-fermenting need an airlock like beer does?
Do they make airlocks for Mason jars?

Only needs an airlock with foods that put off a ton of gas. Otherwise, you can just burp every day.

So if i were fermenting for hot sauce i would just have to burp every day for 3 weeks or whatever?
Do I also need a weight?

Started a new cider brew. Decided to do something different this time.
1 gal cider, 1 cup molasses, 1tsp acid blend.

Warmed the juice and melted the molasses into it. Added the acid and let it sit for a while. My starting gravity is about 1.071.
I'm gonna rack her in about a week

Kvass day three, should technically be drinkable by know but i'd definitly strain the mother out, shit's too scary.

Peppers can be very gassy, so yes, burping is a must unless you want a pressure explosion.

You can use a weight, or really anything else to keep it submerged. Some people use plastic bags filled with water; this keeps it air tight while allowing gas to escape. You can also use things like a lettuce cover to keep the peppers down under the brine. There are tons of options available, but the idea is the same. Everything should be submerged under the brine.

Top seems to be clear enough. Smells great but idk... Someone talk me into not being a little bitch and trying it.

If it smells good, it is good.

What are you, some kind of botulism advocate?

sorry no. just blended then added liquid little by little til it was as smooth as i wanted it to be. This is the sort of thing that will vary alot depending on the size of your batch so i have to have an eye and a mind for what you prefer.

I do not use an air lock in any of my ferments.
traditionally all that was ever used is a weight and follower that keeps all solids under the liquid.
I've only ever rigged a crude weight and only partially sealed the jar to allow air to escape.
also I'll check it every few days for kalm yeast or bad molds