FARMcurious Fermenting Set - FAQs

• Almost any salt if fine to use as long as there are no additives. Avoid any salt with anti-caking agents or iodine added. The natural minerals in unrefined salt are fine (and maybe even better for your health!) so feel free to use sea salt or himalayan pink salt if you prefer.

• You'll likely see a lot of variations on how much salt to use in difference recipes. Feel free to experiment a bit. Just don't leave the salt as as it serves as a barrier against growth of some undesired bacteria.
• Salt is best measured by weight because some grains are very small (like sea salt) and some grains are larger (like Kosher salt). We realize that not everyone has a kitchen scale so in our basic recipes we've suggested making a brine with 1 Tbs Kosher salt to 1 cup water. If you want to use sea salt you can adjust that to 3 1/2 teaspoons sea salt to 1 cup water.
• You can certainly use less salt but keep in mind that the more salt you use the more your ferment is protected from outside forces and the slower it will ferment. Adjust your timing accordingly

• In an airlock system this isn't typical, but if you had a break in your seal, had too much headspace or opened the jar to see what was going on inside, you might see a thin light-colored layer form on top of your ferment. Sometimes, it stays as a light film with no flavor. This film is not harmful and won't change your ferment.
• If the starts to thicken it's best to remove it as best you can. You can use a flat spoon to slide underneath it and pull most of it out. As long as it hasn't changed other colors it's not considered dangerous. Test the vegetables to see if they've softened underneath and remove the top layer of vegetables if they seem affected. Lower layers should not be affected as long as it wasn't left on too long.
• If you've opened the container and subjected the ferment to oxygen, it might be best to store it in the refrigerator to avoid further growth.

• Even though the FARMcurious Fermenting Set generally doesn't require a weight for fermentation, shredded vegetables are one of the notable exceptions. Read more about it here.

What type of jar does this fermenting set fit?

The lid fits onto any wide mouth mason jar (like Ball, Mason or Kerr).

If you're outside the US and want to try to match them up with jars you have, they fit the wide mouth U.S. Mason jars which have a 3 inch (76 mm) inner [3 3⁄8 inch (86 mm) outer] diameter regardless of volume of the jar. Many European jars have lug threads instead of the continuous threads of the US Mason jars so be sure the threading on the rim is continuous (uninterrupted). It's my understanding that you can get Ball jars in Europe.

Check back frequently - more FAQs coming soon!