Shoutout to the week my hot sauce ferment turned into a geyser

I was making a batch of habanero mango hot sauce last June and thought I had enough headroom in the jar. Came home from work on a Tuesday to find brine all over my kitchen counter, dripping down the cabinets. Lost about a third of my ferment because the pressure built up way faster than I expected. Everyone online says to burp your jars daily but I was doing it twice a day and still had a mess. It might be that my house runs warm in the summer which kicks off fermentation quicker. Has anyone else dealt with a geyser situation even when you follow the standard advice?

2 comments

2 Comments

xena94623d ago

Everyone online says to burp your jars daily" - yeah that's useless if your house runs warm. How hot does your kitchen actually get in the summer? I had a batch go volcanic last July when my AC was out and it was sitting in 85 degree heat all day. Seems like once the temp climbs above 75 or 80 those standard rules go out the window. Might need to start using an airlock or a wider mouth jar so the pressure has more room to release without making a mess.

betty_stone223d ago

Oh man, I had a buddy try the daily burping thing last summer and his kitchen hit around 82 during a heat wave. He ended up with kraut juice all over his ceiling, seriously, like a geyser going off. He switched to a loose lid and a bowl underneath after that and it worked way better for him.