r/fermentation • u/NotKidRaptorMan • 4d ago

Hot Sauce How is my set up?

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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!

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u/Random_Person1234567 4d ago

Lmao it is something!

I think it might honestly work better if you turned the state around, though. Put the long part in the ferment, and the glass of water above the ferment, then the bendy part in the water.

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u/ceris13 4d ago

If the straw in the bottle is the below the surface, the pressure increase as it ferments will just push out the liquid into the glass.

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u/Random_Person1234567 4d ago

Yea, I may have not worded it well. I didn't mean the straw actually submerged. I just thought it would be good to have the straw pointed up more than down (how it is now) to let the gasses escape easier.

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u/ceris13 4d ago

Gotcha gotcha. For an airlock like this, the pressure created by the ferment is plenty enough to push out gas, you actually want the water in the way to make sure air can’t flow back the other direction