So I made some salsa the other night...

[MarkinLondon]

I made a mason jar of tomato salsa a few days ago and rather than throw out the remainder, I added some salt and a few spoonfuls of fermented pepper mash (that's a fermentation starter, right?), removed it from the fridge, and have left it on the counter to ferment.

Is this a safe and reasonable approach to leftover salsa? Will this kill me? Have I lost the plot?

[Christopher Weeks]

Did you do anything to prevent oxygen from getting to the mold that's trying to colonize your produce? You might have kept it under brine. You might have stirred it up thoroughly twice per day. You might have put it under an airlock and kept it closed.

If you did none of those, I'd expect to find mold growing on it. Some people toss it when that happens and others (usually including me) will remediate the ferment by getting the mold out and taking precautions against it.

Other than that, I think it's sound.

[MarkinLondon]

I did none of those things

The salsa was made, used that day, and kept in the fridge. I had some this morning actually. That was when I thought it would still be suitable for fermentation, so I added some salt and a tablespoon of already-fermented mash and placed it on the counter.

I keep shaking and mixing it, so I suppose I'l know in a day or so if it's a biohazard or a delicacy. hmmmm....

[Christopher Weeks]

Frequently repeated mixing is often good enough, so it's likely fine.