Heard a tip at a homebrew shop about skipping airlocks for fruit ferments

I was picking up a carboy at my local supply spot in Austin and overheard a guy talking about using a loose lid instead of an airlock for hot pepper ferments. He said airlocks can clog if you have too much pulp or seeds floating around, and a loose lid lets gas escape without the risk of a jar exploding. Tried it with a batch of jalapeno mash last month and it worked great, no mold or kahm yeast on top either. Just screwed the lid on fingertip tight and backed it off a quarter turn, burped it twice a day for the first week. Anyone else skip the airlock on certain ferments and go with a simpler setup?

2 comments

2 Comments

iris_green841d ago

Loose lid gang for sure. Air locks are overkill for peppers.

spencer_johnson221d ago

Actually @iris_green84, 2% salt by weight in the brine is the real key, not whether the lid is loose or tight.