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I finally learned why my hot sauce kept going bad after 3 weeks
I was reading a post on r/fermentation last night and found out that I needed to keep my peppers fully submerged with a glass weight, not just pushed down with a spoon. Turns out that little bit of mold on top was from oxygen exposure the whole time. I've been making sauce for 6 months out of my kitchen in Austin, and now I feel silly for not checking sooner. Has anyone else had this issue with air exposure ruining their ferments?
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logan2365mo ago
Honestly, that cabbage leaf trick is the real game changer, I started doing that last year and havent had a single issue since. Those glass weights with the nub are solid too, but honestly its the leaf that does the heavy lifting for me.
Tbh I felt dumb for like a month after I figured out I was just pushing peppers down with a spoon. You think youre being careful but that tiny air gap kills it every time.
Ngl, swapping to a proper setup is worth the 10 bucks because wasting a whole batch of ferments feels way worse than buying the right gear.
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johnson.faith5mo ago
...and @umar59 is absolutely right about the humidity making it worse, I'm over in Houston so I know that struggle firsthand. What finally worked for me was switching to a glass fermentation weight with a little nub on top, you can get a set on Amazon for like 8 bucks... I also started putting a cabbage leaf on top of the peppers before the weight, just to create an extra barrier against the air.
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umar595mo ago
Austin's humidity makes surface mold even worse, you really gotta weigh those peppers down tight.
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