Talk about veggies bubbling

[Christopher Weeks]

Hey all,

A lot of people talk about bubbling in their vegetable ferments using a lot of different language. I was looking at my most recent batch of mixed vegetables last night and admiring my bubbles and wondering how it compares to what other people get.

So I made a 16 second video that you can see here (I hope) and we can use as a reference point: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/1171 ... 3370414850

I consider myself a moderately advanced fermenter of vegetables but the bubbling in this video is about the most I usually see. It isn't like the bubbling that a carboy of must makes on the road to wine where I get a steady stream of gurgling in the water-lock.

So I wonder; when you (you all, I mean) talk about healthy bubbling in a vegetable ferment, what are you talking about?

And what I'm showing you here is tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, and garlic in a strongish (~5%) brine. When I do something like a kraut with only the brine that comes out of the cabbage, I get lots of gas pockets forming among the produce, and a good head of CO2 inside my Fido, but normally don't see any bubbling at all. How does that compare to your own experiences?

Please discuss! And feel free to incorporate your own reference videos if that's convenient.

[jdinid]

I can't see the bubbles in my croc but I have been in the room when it "burps". I made a mistake on my last batch of carrots and forgot to vent the gas every day, so when I popped the lid after a ten day ferment, it was fermented carrot soda! Lovely carrots though.

Just to make sure I had a good fermentation going, I added about a tablespoon of brine from the kraut croc to my dried chili ferment. No more questions there, it's slightly more vigorous than your video. I have a lid on it but the ring is only screwed on partway so that it can self vent. If I had it tighter, I would have to burp it several times a day.

[fermentastic]

HWhen I do something like a kraut with only the brine that comes out of the cabbage, I get lots of gas pockets forming among the produce, and a good head of CO2 inside my Fido, but normally don't see any bubbling at all. How does that compare to your own experiences?

Please discuss! And feel free to incorporate your own reference videos if that's convenient.

Impressive video. I've only done kraut and just finished some pickles. I didn't even check the pickles when they were fermenting, but what you mention for the kraut is what I see. Gas pockets mixed in with the cabbage.

[gardener]

Nice to see the video. Thanks.

When I did radishes last fall & winter they bubbled as much as in your video. Mostly, I don't see a whole lot of the gas production in my jars. Oddly, I feel a bit jealous of those who do. Most of my fermentation projects are in my minimally heated basement during fall through winter, so I probably have lower ambient temps than some people. From what I read, I seem to use a more concentrated brine than many as well. Fifty grams per liter is typical for my brines. My temps + salt concentration might be making for slower fermentation.

My last batch of cabbage also developed those pockets, kind of fluffing up the vegetable so that I had to keep tamping it back down to keep it submerged. I finally simply added some more brine. It did not have much more fermenting to do, but it was easier to keep it submerged and letting those bubble up to the top with a little more brine.