You don’t have to make a brine. I ferment my chilis in a vacuum sealed bag like those used for sous vide. Just pulse the ingredients a few times in a food processor and add 2% salt by weight. Since they don’t have much sugar I’ve never had to burp the bags.
Makes it really easy to just have tons of bags fermenting without taking up lots of space or reusable containers. The Noma Guide to Fermentation has a lot more info.
Vacuum bags and 2% salt by weight are the easiest way to get it done, for sure. It doesn't get much simpler.
I've had pepper ferments that got a little carried away and tightly filled the bag with CO2.
There's a lot of ways to deal with this problem, but I just poke a tiny hole in the bag, let the bug farts out, and cover the hole with a strip of clear tape.
(A lazier method is to plan better and use a bigger bag to begin with.
And for those who aren't familiar, vacuum bags can be huge: They're available as continuous uncut rolls.)
That's an excellent book, and I do the same. I err on the side of just over for the 2% as iirc the safe limit isn't too much lower. Most things are totally fine at 2.5% too, particularly sauces (berries is probably where you may want to be on the lower side).
Vac bags for me have worked every time for me, I like to make these things with my kids, let them pick things to lacto ferment. Strawberries is the most recent that was excellent (and we'd picked several kilos), the liquid was fantastic for a dressing and the strawbs themselves worked great on meringues.
Do you vacuum the bag and get all of the air out, or do you just kind of flatten it with your hand and seal it with space at the top for expansion? I assume it puffs up a lot. Do you have to vent and reseal it or can those bags handle it, assuming name brand food saver bags or something else that’s decent quality?
I vacuum the bag with a Foodsaver but the displacement method with a ziplock bag probably works too.
I’ve only ever had to vent ferments with lots of fruit sugars like blueberry habanero. I just cut the bag, force some of the air out, then fold it over and use a binder clip. I don’t reseal them because the salt pulls out their liquid and I don’t have a chamber vacuum sealer.
Good to know it can be done with a food saver. I have the book on my shelf, but never got around to reading it.
I've used a ziplock of water as a fermentation weight. I didn't know I could use a chamber sealer, and I have one (the "cheap" model VP112S - at $600 and only 57 lbs. - but I bought it 7 years ago and it's still going). I think I need to try this with some chilis.
Thanks! I’m going to give this a try. I have a food saver I just wasn’t sure if I should leave space in the bag or not. Sounds like not and just vent the bag if it inflates too much.
Makes it really easy to just have tons of bags fermenting without taking up lots of space or reusable containers. The Noma Guide to Fermentation has a lot more info.