My hot sauce batch went fizzy and sour after 8 days and I almost threw it out

I was fermenting habaneros and garlic for a week and it smelled perfect, then on day eight it turned fizzy and tasted sour. I thought I ruined it and was ready to dump the whole jar. Turns out I just let it go too long in a warm kitchen, about 75 degrees. It took me three more days of reading old posts here to figure that out. Anyone else have a ferment go weird from just a little extra heat?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonb928d ago

Nah, heat's just an excuse for bad process. My ferments sit in a warm spot every summer and never go fizzy like that. You probably had a dirty jar or not enough salt.

clairem478d ago

Guess my jar was dirtier than my sense of humor this time. You're right, I should know better than to blame the weather for my own messy work. My last batch was so fizzy it could have powered a small rocket, so salt was definitely off. Nothing like a friendly reminder that my kitchen skills need a good scrub.

robin_bennett7810h ago

It's wild how often we blame outside stuff for our own mistakes. I see it all the time with people blaming traffic for being late when they just left the house too late. Own the process, own the result. Your fizzy rocket fuel is a perfect example. Getting that right feels way better than making excuses anyway.