Was super skeptical of using a salt weight brine instead of an airlock for hot sauce ferments... until I tried it on my last batch of habanero and it came out perfect with zero kahm yeast.

For like two years I've been using airlocks and burping jars and all that fuss. My buddy in Tucson kept saying just use a saltwater brine with a weighted bag and leave it alone. Finally caved on a batch of habanero pineapple I started 3 weeks ago. Not a single speck of mold or kahm. And the taste is way cleaner than any batch I've done before. Has anyone else switched off airlocks and stuck with it?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliver8111mo ago

My first salt brine ferment had zero issues and I never went back to airlocks after that.

river_jones1mo ago

Jumped straight into salt brining after my second batch ever came down with kahm yeast and never looked back. Once you realize the salt weight does all the work keeping oxygen out, that whole airlock setup feels like overkill. @oliver811 hit it perfectly, that first clean ferment is all it takes to convert you, and honestly the flavor difference is night and day because you're not losing any volatile compounds through the airlock. I've been experimenting with different salt percentages and found 3.5% is my sweet spot for most chiles without any brine issues at all.