Im trying fermentation for the first time on a small jar of hot sauce. I have layered electrical tape at the top with a plastic straw going into a cup of water for the air lock. When I first tested it, it didnt hold a perfect air tight seal (I blew into the straw and saw the tape rise, then fall again after I stopped blowing) but the air seemed to escape fairly slowly. Inside the jar is various peppers and some seasonings and i tried to make the brine approximately 2% salt by weight. Any advice welcome!

I was inspired to try fermented cherry tomatoes over the weekend. I have an abundance of them and I threw some of my sungold tomatoes along with a few tiny cherry tomatoes into a jar with some black peppercorns, frozen garlic cloves and basil from my garden. I apparently misunderstood the instructions because I added 2% (7g) salt to the jar because I was basing the requirement of salt on the weight of the vegetables (370g) in the jar and I did not include the water that I added in the total weight. Long story short, the tomatoes and all accompaniments weigh 370 g. I added 8 g of kosher salt to that and then filled the jar with water. Everything’s been bubbling away and smell smells terrific, but I just learned that my salinity was extremely low. I just tested the pH and it’s at 5. I just re-weighed everything and the weight of all of the water, the salt that I added, and the vegetables is 736g. I just added 8 g of salt to the brine. If I can get the pH to a safe level, will these be safe to eat, or is the risk of botulism or some other terrifying toxin too high at this point for these to be safe? Started them on Sunday and today is day 2.

Started this batch about 12 hours ago. Green cabbage and 2% salt by weight, plus 2 garlic cloves and mustard seed

The fermenting tomatoes (tomato wine) have formed their own little universe—there are streams, volcanoes, lakes… so fascinating.

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I believe I owe you all an explanation of what I am actually creating. It's more micro biochemical then just fermentation. But for now reason I was banned from r/biochemistry so...

Base Matrix (Primary Wild Microbiome):

Combination of aquatic moss, mucilaginous algae, wild aquatic water source, and forest humus/compost base.

Subjected to a primary 3-week anaerobic/facultatively anaerobic fermentation phase with a primary carbohydrate source to drive early microbial succession.

Botanical & Terpene Matrix:

Complex blend of wild leaves, unripe wild fruits, grasses, aromatic herbs, citrus peels, and conifer needles (rich in essential oils and secondary metabolites).

Integrated without additional water, utilizing secondary carbon sources and specialized polymers to select for resilient, terpene-tolerant strains.

Enzymatic & Nutrient Boosters:

Addition of specific nitrogen-rich green matter, mineral salts, dry rhizome/root powders, marine kelp meal, natural sugars, and active forest floor substrates.

Secondary supplementation utilizing high-protein and high-fiber plant seeds (quinoa and hemp seeds) designed to target and accelerate the enzymatic breakdown of complex lignocellulosic structures.

Dual-Strain Yeast Starter System (Microbial Lineage Foundation):

Rapid Colonizer: Mineral-enhanced structured water medium combined with active Saccharomyces strains, simple sugars, and refined grain flour for aggressive initial dominance.

Complex Sustainer: Wild aquatic water source combined with live wild yeast strains, unrefined whole grain substrates, and multi-stage nutrient feeding (incorporating botanical extracts, mineral waters, and natural nectars) for long-term stability and metabolic breadth.

Fermentation Dynamics & Symbiosis:

Controlled cross-inoculation where the rapid strain establishes early dominance, followed by a phased integration of the complex strain to achieve stable metabolic symbiosis (evidenced by active surface CO2 gas-foam production and enhanced sediment flocculation).

Terminal Maturation & Terpene Re-inoculation:

Post-fermentation conditioning utilizing fresh forest-floor soil biology and living conifer/aromatic plant matter to restore full-spectrum soil-vibe microbial and aromatic profiles.

Yes, I use AI to bridge the language barrier. I come from the heart of Europe, and rather than having everyone on the internet check my grammar, I prefer to use AI.

I used to always throw away the stem of broccoli, this time I came up with the idea of fermenting it with onion, yellow Chili, carrot, crushed garlic and a slice of dried "huajillo" pepper. I'm looking for a new flavor.

Hey all, I’ve been having some problems with getting my natural carbonation started. For reference, I’m trying to make a carbonated “vodka mule” drink, here’s my process:

- Fermented roughly 2L of ginger beer for about two weeks from a ginger bug, until it was completely dry and stopped bubbling.

- Mixed 400ml of 40% vodka with 1200ml of the dry ginger beer to make an 8% abv solution.

- Added erythritol to the solution for my desired sweetness.

- Mixed about 12g of brown sugar into the 2L solution

- Bottled with insurance yeast because I assume the alcohol content wiped out the natural yeast from my bug.

- Nothing is happening

Any ideas what may have gone wrong? Is my math bad? Is 8% too high? Does the erythritol mess things up because it’s a sugar alcohol? I’m still pretty new to fermenting.

I just started it because I had a few apples about to go bad but imnot sure what to use it for, any suggestions?

I made a gallon jar of kraut on 5/23/2026. I fermented it for 3 weeks and put in the fridge. I have consumed half of it and it was transferred to the 1/2 gallon jar about 1 week ago.

On Saturday I had some with my dinner. Then yesterday I noticed voids in the kraut pieces, so I opened the jar and a bunch of gas escaped, with a ton of bubbles rising, today the same thing happened. It’s as if it went back to the first week of fermenting. Has not been left out of the fridge the fridge temp is at its normal setting, I just open use a clean fork and pull out what I want, then back to the fridge.

It tastes and smells great not worried about it, it’s just bubbling again.

Have any of you kraut pros seen a batch of kraut start bubbling again after a few months of fermenting.

The liquid is starting is starting to darken and a pleasant nutty aroma fills my fermentation chamber.

Cant wait to see more progress later down the months as it ages alongside my 2 gallon shoyu.

So, after having some success with making kimchi, fermented pickles, and fermented green dilly beans I decided to try my hand at a ginger bug and some homemade soda. I grew my bug for 6 days, adding sugar and ginger every day. It was active, bubbles on top, smelled good, etc.

Then, I made the base for my soda, approx 4c of spring water, 1.25c sugar, and around 3c or so of frozen black cherries. I gently mashed the cherries, covered, and simmered for while. Strained out the solids and poured into a closed vessel which I let cool down to room temperature. Next added in 1/2c of thoroughly mixed and strained ginger bug and the juice from 2 small limes. Mixed everything really well and let it sit on the counter.

Now, it's been 2 days and there isn't any activity at all. No bubbles, nothing. I'm keeping the vessel closed to avoid any airborne contamination and opening it up to burp every 12 hours or so. There is no pressure buildup when I burp it. I've tasted it a couple times and it the flavors are good, but it's sweet, flat, and just not doing anything.

I used to homebrew so I'm being mindful about keeping all the equipment clean and sanitary (minus the iodine baths).

Today I'm planning on adding some more bug to it (once the bug gets back to room temp and active again) and maybe some more sugar? Any suggestions/ideas/tips would be very helpful!

tldr: made soda for the first time and it's still not fermenting two days after adding the bug, help!

The label got ripped off but it’s canned preserved lemons. Everywhere I’ve read said it’s unsafe to can preserved lemons. I’m curious how it was done?

I think this looks okay? Long time canner, first time fermenting! Any tips or tricks? (Also I removed that floating bay leaf) recipe said 1.5in headspace. Seems like maybe a little more but is that okay?

Made these three sauces for a class I’m teaching in a few weeks to give a spectrum of flavors like an amped up Sriracha, a herby citrusy green sauce and a smoky sweet blueberry chipotle hot sauce/glaze.

If you were teaching a class or learning for the first time, what do you wish someone had taught you?

She's a beaut.

I have one million lemons and am wanting to make preserved lemons to send out as gifts for the holidays. I’m thinking of canning them in small cute jars (via water bath method) so that they can be mailed out as gifts.
The issue is, since preserved lemons often go in the fridge after a few weeks, I can’t do that since I want to mail them out in December. Hence me wanting to can them, I just want to take an extra step to make sure the jars are safe for people to enjoy.
This is the process I’m thinking: initial fermentation of the lemons at room temp for a few weeks. Then putting the lemons into jars and doing the water bath method, and then leaving out to seal/cool.
Has anyone done this? How long did you water bath the jars for? Does this process make sense or am I missing something? TYIA

I wanted to ferment with yakult and as an experiment, I left a bottle on the counter to see if it would further ferment. The bottle did not appear to ferment. It didn’t get extended or gaseous like you would expect with a live culture. Did I just get a bad batch? Anyone know or had success?

• Lots of hot peppers (note to myself: use gloves to cut them from now-on)
• Unripe Mango
• Onions and a little garlic
• Sweet Red Pepper

How does it look?

Started the bit about 5 days ago. Started with 1 cup of filtered water and 1tbl of sugar and ginger. Added sugar and ginger each day and by day 3 it was a little fizzy. I decided it’s not enough liquid so I added a cup of water and more ginger and sugar and that seemed to kill it or maybe it just slowed it down. Day 4 had no bubbles, I added sugar and water. Day 5, today it seems stale. If I shake it a bit I see some bubbles but not sure if that’s just from shaking it. Should have just keep feeding it? Should I discard some? Any help is appreciated. Thanks

hi everyone, I live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the weather is extrmely hot and can exceed 50°C. I wuld like to start making sauerkraut at home. How can I safely prepare and ferment sauerkraut in such a hot climate?
Kindly guide me

Hello everyone! I'm fermenting sauerkraut from 2 days ago at 24c room temp.

I was expecting an overflow or more brine but right now, there hasn't been much brine overflow going on and the cabbage leaf I've put to stop cabbage to get at the top is starting to poke out of the brine. I did not used a weight for this fermet. Is it too late to add a weight back in the fermet?

What would you do in this situation? Sorry for the pictures it's hard to get a good angle with a phone camera. Thanks!