Hi! I'm Erica from FarmSteady and today
I'm answering your most asked questions
about the fermentation weight.
Question #1: What does a fermentation weight do?
During lacto-fermentation you don't need oxygen,
all the activity is actually happening below the surface.
So the fermentation weight is there to keep your veggies underneath the brine
away from the oxygen so the lactobacillus can do its job.
Question #2:  What makes a good fermentation weight?
The first is heft. Your weight has to actually weigh enough to keep those vegetables submerged.
The second is the material.
I like glass because I like experimenting with really bold flavors and really bright colors,
like garlic and turmeric. Things that if it was something that was porous, like ceramic
would kind of carry over to your next batch.
Glass you can clean and it's not going to bring over any of
those flavors or colors of a previous
batch to the next one.
And the third: ease of getting in and out
As someone who has kind of jerry-rigged a lot of different fermentation weight setups
before I designed this one.
I was constantly in a battle of getting something out of the jar.
This one has a hole in it, so that you could easily get it into your jar
and then easily get it out when you're done fermenting.
Question #3: How do you keep your weight from sinking?
This is a great question and
kind of funny it's a fermentation weight
but ultimately you want it to stay at
the top of your jar.
The key is to prep your veggies
that means big chunks, pack them in pretty solidly, 
and the weight will just sit on top.
If you're making kraut, and that's shredded. Obviously shredded things could kind of creep on out.
So I'd like to use a cabbage leaf, cut it into a circle, and put that down
before the weight
to keep every thing in its place
When I'm making hot sauce,
that's going to ultimately be a sauce
I ferment those peppers in big chunks so
that the weight can keep them down
And then blend in after fermentation.
Once again, I'm Erica from FarmSteady.
Thanks so much for tuning in!
I want to make sure that your first ferment and your tenth ferment, and all your ferments are great one!s
Please keep those questions coming.
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