Hit 100 consecutive clean ferments last week and honestly never thought I'd get past 50

After losing a batch of sauerkraut to mold back in March I tightened up my brine ratios and sterilization routine, so has anyone else seen a big jump in success rates once you dial in a specific salt percentage?

3 comments

3 Comments

val97419h ago

oh man the universe punishing you for getting cocky about hitting 100 by sending a mold batch your way, thats how it always works right? i swear fermentation is like a weird cosmic joke where the second you think youve got it figured out something shows up to remind you that you dont know anything. i had a similar thing happen with my hot sauce this summer, i was all proud of my consistent 2.25% ratio then bam a whole jar of peppers just decided to turn into a science experiment i didnt sign up for. the kahm yeast was having a party and i wasnt invited. its honestly a miracle any of us ever get past 50 ferments without throwing the whole hobby out the window. anyway congrats on the streak, just try not to jinx yourself next time by bragging about it out loud.

charlie19821h ago

Yeah that part about "dialing in that exact 2.5% salt ratio" really hit me. I used to think salt percentages were more of a rough guideline, like just toss in a handful and hope for the best. But after losing a batch of hot sauce to kahm yeast three times in a row I finally got a scale and started measuring exactly. It was boring at first but honestly now I'm a total convert. I do 2.25% for most veggies and 3% for peppers and the difference is night and day. Still can't believe I went so long just guessing at it.

the_cameron1d ago

Ugh, losing that sauerkraut batch to mold must have been so frustrating. I know the feeling, I messed up a whole jar of pickles back in April and it was brutal. Dialing in that exact 2.5% salt ratio for my ferments was the total game changer for me, it was like the mold just stopped showing up. Congrats on hitting 100, that's a huge milestone to bounce back from a loss like that.