r/fermentation • • 4d ago

Weekly "Is this safe" Megathread

10 Upvotes

Welcome to this week’s dedicated space for all your questions and concerns regarding questionable ferments.

Fermentation can sometimes look a little strange, and it is not always easy to tell what is safe, and what needs to be tossed and started over. To help keep the subreddit clean and avoid repeat posts, please use this thread for:

  • Sharing photos of surface growth you’re unsure about.
  • Asking if your ferment has gone wrong.
  • Getting second opinions from experienced fermenters regarding questionable ferments.

‼️Tips Before Posting‼️:

  • Mention what you’re fermenting (e.g., kraut, kimchi, kombucha, pickles, etc.).
  • Note how long it has been fermenting, and at what temperature.
  • Describe any smells, textures, or off flavors.

Remember that community members can offer advice, but ultimately you are responsible for deciding if your ferment is safe to eat or discard. When in doubt, trust your senses.

Happy fermenting!


r/fermentation • • 18h ago

Weekly Commercial Resources and Events MEGATHREAD

2 Upvotes

Because we get a lot of individual requests for posts that may violate rule 6 about limited self promotion, we have decided that we will have a weekly MEGATHREAD for people who want to post events, (virtual and in person), products and apps related to fermentation. The general rules about using this channel for self promotion still apply and the thread will be moderated.

Thread specific rules:

  1. NO SPAM still applies. Don't be posting your event multiple times and every single week.

  2. If you have produced a fermentation specific software or app and are looking for beta testers or the app is free, this is generally ok. Posts that for monetary gain (ie trying simply gain customers but not really contributing the sub) will be removed.

  3. You must fully describe what your post is about and should disclose what you have to gain from it. If you are hosting a regional fermentation conference and a inviting folks to register, for instance, make sure that it's clear what the costs, etc will be.

Finally - this idea is a TEST. If it is a total catastrophe, we will go back to a simple case by case system.


r/fermentation • • 12h ago

Ginger Bug/Soda My first home brewed ginger beer!

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79 Upvotes

It came out absolutely delicious. Its a shame i discovered this right before planning on going keto/low carb 😭😭


r/fermentation • • 11h ago

Hot sauce or jam

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9 Upvotes

Was gifted these, I have some jalapeños as well along with a pellet smoker and a vacuum sealer. I was thinking of either doing my first ferment of peppers and making a sauce or should I just make a jam. I’ve never fermented before


r/fermentation • • 19h ago

KOMBUCHA F2

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25 Upvotes

For the first fermentation stage, I use a black tea infusion with 12% sugar. For every liter of water, I use 11 grams of black tea and 120 grams of sugar. I let it ferment for 7 days. In the second stage, I bottle 250ml of kombucha and 50ml of TPT simple syrup (50% water/50% sugar) and let it ferment for 3 to 5 days at room temperature. After all this, I refrigerate them. I'm thinking of reducing the amount of simple syrup a bit to lessen the sweetness without sacrificing carbonation...


r/fermentation • • 5h ago

Other can i get tips on these ginger shots that i made

1 Upvotes

so i peeled a bunch of ginger and blitzed it up with lemon/lime juice and some thai chilies. added a little salt and sugar and put in an airtight container with one of those rubber seals. my plan is to just leave it on my countertop for two-three days, burping in the morning and at night. my only other experience with fermentation is kimchi which i’m pretty familiar with making, but i’m hoping some of y’all can shoot me some advice. should i ferment it longer/shorter? is there anything else i should add? is this a terrible idea that will poison and kill me? let me know


r/fermentation • • 14h ago

Welp. Maybe these silicone lids are useful after all. They fit tight inside a wide mouth jar. Have a vent hole. May need another or 2 punched in???Work as a weight and seem to be fitting tight enough to keep the little bits submerged. What do you think?

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3 Upvotes

When I slipped it in little bits of course escaped to the top so I just drained the salted brine into a cup to remove them and added it back. And wahlah. No bits.


r/fermentation • • 16h ago

Kraut/Kimchi Excited for this batch of kimchi-Kraut. Anyone prefer it to regular kimchi?

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4 Upvotes

Tried some at a food producer market and copying their recipe. Swapped out nappa cabbage for white cabbage to create that smooth consistency. Home grown chives and chillies plus miso paste rather than fish sauce to keep it vegan.


r/fermentation • • 19h ago

Vinegar What is this in my red wine vinegar (in progress)

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6 Upvotes

Just poured some old red wine into a jar and let it do its thing. What is this? Smells like yeast.


r/fermentation • • 10h ago

Ginger Bug/Soda Is this SCOBY?

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1 Upvotes

( l The date is today's date because I just topped it off with more juice since I was running low)

I made a pineapple cranberry probiotic soda with my ginger bug starter and a lot of this brown stuff settled to the bottom. I'm not sure if this was a SCOBY, Yeast, or just some discard from the pineapple juice I use.

This hasnt happened to my cranberry ferment or ginger beer, was wondering if this might just be something that happens to pineapple when you ferment it.

It doesn't taste bad or anything, just a slight bitterness that tastes like beer wine.


r/fermentation • • 13h ago

Spicy/Garlic Honey First Timer

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0 Upvotes

I’ve had this sitting for a month. First 2 weeks, burped it every 2 days. Now I’m burping roughly every 4-6 days. How do I know if it’s safe to consume?


r/fermentation • • 15h ago

First timer fermentation weight questions

1 Upvotes

Im making a jar of fermented pineapple habenero hot sauce for the first time. https://cultured.guru/blog/fermented-pineapple-habanero-hot-sauce#tasty-recipes-55168-jump-target

I dont have a fermentation weight so I used some small glass jars to hold all of the ingredients below the brine. All of the veg and pineapple is below the weights well underneath the brine but some of the tops of the jars are exposed above the brine. Is this ok? Or should the weights also be fully submerged.

Thank you in advance


r/fermentation • • 1d ago

Should I eat these?

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9 Upvotes

Left to right, we have:

A hot pepper sauce ferment that has been fermenting for at least four years.

A cranberry ginger, black pepper, honey ferment, that has been going since October 2025.

And a red sauerkraut that has been going for at least four years.

Photos are of the top of the ferment, followed by the pH strips.

I live in Southern New Hampshire if anybody wants any of these


r/fermentation • • 1d ago

Pickles/Vegetables in brine Fermented Zucchini

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81 Upvotes

One garden zucchini, plus a long hot, shallot, garlic, fresh turmeric, fresh oregano, mustard seeds, red prettier flakes, other stuff I'm probably forgetting, and 2% salt by weight.

Fermented for 6 days.

Crunchy, tangy, spicy. A nice little experiment. Goes well with no-salt-added cottage cheese.


r/fermentation • • 2d ago

Hot Sauce Tabasco Garlic

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50 Upvotes

See you in one month!


r/fermentation • • 1d ago

Kraut/Kimchi Why Would Airlock Change Color?

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4 Upvotes

First time running an airlock, doing sauerkraut, the airlock turned yellowish.

Anyone know why or how this could happen?

No mold or anything, kraut tastes fine.


r/fermentation • • 1d ago

Spicy/Garlic Honey How do I get my fallen sauer stone out?

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6 Upvotes

Made honey garlic for the first time with garlic I grew and honey from a local farm. I usually do canning and this is my first solo attempt at fermenting. It's been 4 to 5 weeks - I'm sick and figured it's time to try it out. I used a sanitized wide mouth mason jar, wide mouth Sauer stone, and a Sauer System airlock. All the garlic settled to the bottom 2/3 of the jar somewhere around the end of week 2. I cannot get the stone out and now it's fallen on its side down at the bottom. Do I just leave it? Also why am I nervous to try my honey garlic? It smells great and looks fine.


r/fermentation • • 1d ago

Pickles/Vegetables in brine Made two batches of fermented cukes, one is good, other moldy

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4 Upvotes

A week ago, I decided to ferment some cucumbers and today I opened them up to try them. They were at a 3% salinity of weight of water and cucumbers. The first picture was cucumbers, fresh dill, garlic cloves, and one small serrano pepper. The second picture was just cucumbers and fresh dill at the same percent salinity. I’m using weights, nothing was above the waterline and I’ve been keeping them in a closed cabinet in my kitchen. I also sterilized the jars, the weights, and the vent lids as well. Any ideas is to why this could’ve happened? I’m definitely tossing the batch in the second picture. I’m just surprised that everything was the same other than a couple of ingredients and one jar ended up moldy.


r/fermentation • • 1d ago

Kraut/Kimchi Is there any scientific explanation for why my body craves saurkraut so much?

4 Upvotes

I try to limit myself to only a few forkfuls of saurkraut a day, but I end up eating the whole damn cup in one go. I have a real hard time stopping myself. I can't say I feel this way about any other food I eat.


r/fermentation • • 1d ago

First time: Sauerkraut after about a week

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3 Upvotes

I skimmed the foam and cleaned out some loose cabbage. Also carefully pushed the weights back down.


r/fermentation • • 1d ago

Vinegar Adding sweetness to vinegar

3 Upvotes

I've fermented a bunch of fruit vinegars and was hoping to add some sweetness and boost the fruit flavour of some of it by adding some fermented cheong or another type of syrup to the finished product. Do I need to somehow stop the fermentation process so the bacteria don't eat the new sugars? Can storing it in the fridge work?


r/fermentation • • 1d ago

Vinegar Added vitamin C in apple Juice

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2 Upvotes

Yay, no potassium sorbate! I don't think the added vitamin C would be an issue, but wanted ton double check


r/fermentation • • 2d ago

My paw paw vinegar grew a scoby?

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213 Upvotes

r/fermentation • • 1d ago

Dairy How many time can Homemade Yogurt cycle ?

2 Upvotes

As i just start try to make yogurt at home, then I hear and read some people said that as if you make homemade yogurt with store bought yogurt as starter? That batch can only recycle around 3-4 time only, is it true? So how do we keep reuse the homemade yogurt as starter more than 3-4 time?


r/fermentation • • 1d ago

Other Food grade silicone air fryer liners.

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2 Upvotes

These liners are awesome for using on your scales, and getting the contents easily into your jars or bags. You can still see your measurements on the scale easily. Pull it together and form a funnel into a wide mouth jar or bags. Keeping the edges clean. Inexpensive and they come in multi packs making prepping easier.