Fermenting Feed

[Noreaster Egger]

I'm a science guy, but my degree is in meteorology and not biochemistry. I've done a lot of reading on lacto-fermenting, but I'm by no means an expert. I've never looked at lactobacillus through a microscope, however I have eaten plenty of sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, and kombucha. Point is, I have some knowledge on the subject, but should an expert feel the need to correct me on something, please do.

I keep mine in half gallon mason jars. I bought some cheap plastic covers, drilled holes in them, and put airlocks from a brew store in them. They look a lot like those Pickl-It fermenting containers. Right now I have 4 jars going...3 fermenting and 1 ready to serve. When the feeding jar is empty, I refill it and drain the extra brine from the next jar in line into the new jar. Then I top it off with water. Keeping the feed submerged reduces your chances of mold and yeasts. Lacto-fermentation is an anaerobic process so you strive to eliminate oxygen from the picture. You want the good guys to win out over the bad guys.

 

[MasAhora]

uggghhh I just read your comments about fruit flies after chucking out my FF cause of little maggoty things and then posting a question about preventing fruit flies.

After reading this thread and thinking about it, my container is probably too big, something smaller that a tea towel and rubber band can seal might be more pleasant for me (dipping my head close to maggots was not nice. The maggots are not in the FF just on the loose lid and top rim.