My uncle told me to stop burping my hot sauce jars so much

Honestly, I was making a fermented habanero sauce and my uncle, who's been brewing his own beer for like 20 years, told me to just leave the lids on loose and stop opening them to 'burp' them every single day. He said the CO2 would build up and push out any oxygen anyway, and opening it just lets bad stuff in. I tried it with two batches. The one I burped daily got a weird white film on top after about a week. The one I just left alone with a loosely screwed lid fermented perfectly for a full month with no issues at all. It was way less work and the flavor was deeper. I guess I was being too nervous and messing with it. Has anyone else found that less fiddling gives better results with pepper mashes?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_pat18d ago

Wait, so the batch you messed with every day actually grew weird stuff, but the one you left alone was totally fine? That's wild. It's like the sauce knew you were nervous and punished you for it. I've been burping my jars like a maniac too, scared they'll explode. Now I'm wondering if I've been letting in more mold spores than I'm letting out gas.

nora_taylor7918d ago

Lol right? Fermentation is so weird. I swear it can sense your fear.

margaret_kim136d ago

Oh my god YES. I did the same thing with my first kraut. I opened the jar every single day to check on it, and it got this weird slimy film. My second batch, I just shoved it in a dark cupboard and forgot about it for two weeks. Perfect crunch, no weird stuff at all. I'm convinced opening it all the time just lets the bad stuff in.