Battling Funky Mold

Even when you use a closed pickling or curing system, sometimes molds invade.

The first sign you have is that the delightful pickly smell we watch for fails to develop, or it develops only a day or two and then diverts to something else.

That something is first just odd, then unpleasant, and then it smells like something left in the fridge too long. This develops over many days, or sometimes weeks, and it can be difficult to tell right away. Eventually though, you KNOW, and the brine begins to cloud, and then it grays and things in it turn slimy.

We aren’t talking about some fuzz on the top which can be removed to expose good food underneath. We are talking about the stuff that goes all the way through, and that clouds the brine, and grays all the food.

It is not always technically mold, sometimes it is bacteria.

There are a few things that can cause molds in pickles.

1. Vegetables that are starting to break down can do this. Use fresh vegetables that are not showing any signs of decay.

2. Old water filters. If you use a water filter for an extended time, it can develop mold inside the filter. It is not enough to make you ill, but it CAN be enough to start some real nasties in a curing environment where it can get a good foothold. The solution here is to either use the water unfiltered (it will have some chlorine, but our pickles have been successful anyway), OR boil the water and let it cool to room temp, and then start the cure. Do not use the water hot or very warm, it tends to encourage the wrong things.

3. Too little salt. Use full salt ratios to avoid the growth of molds throughout the food.

These foods were made in a non-sterile environment for thousands of years. This is how they were developed, so failure to sterilize things is pretty much never the cause of a pickling failure. It has to be something with a fairly large amount of bacteria or fungus added.

It is terribly disappointing to put the effort into starting the production of a good food, only to have it spoiled and inedible. The loss of the investment in the food is also a thing we feel.

If your ancestors could create these things in a crock in a dirt floored root cellar, though, we should be able to create them reliably in a good jar under better controlled conditions.

CopyCat Notice

The ORIGINAL one-way valve fermenting airlock! Imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery, and we have noticed that our product has been copied by other sellers of fermenting products. Remember, if you see someone else selling a one-way valve airlock for fermenting, THEY copied US, not the other way around! Fermenta Lock is still the only original invention, handmade in the US. If it isn't orange, it isn't the original!

We invented Fermenta Lock, Fermenta Free, and the valve used for Fermenta Fido and other Fermenta Airlock products. We invented Fermenta Dunk Extender. Patents are prohibitively expensive, and designed by the government not to protect the rights of individuals, but to provide another source of revenue and control for the government and lawyers. We are good at what we do. We have endless ideas and endless creativity, and competition does not scare us. Impatient thieves do not scare us - they are too busy taking shortcuts to make a success of it anyway, and they won't want to take the effort to actually MAKE a product and fill orders.

So if you want to copy our idea, go right ahead. If you want to market and sell a competing product, you are welcome to do so, as long as you do not patent our idea - we had it first, and our posts on FaceBook announcing the invention and launch of it will prove that. This idea is officially in the public domain, placed there by us. We will NOT release supply sources, or part names unless you want to buy them - we'll be happy to sell you an instruction kit. If you buy our product, or look at the images and figure it out for yourself, good on you. Compete with us if you like, just don't screw us, and we'll get along just fine. Big companies who might want to screw us may have more money, and more lawyers than we do, but we have more to gain by suing the pants off a big company, and believe me, we will be well motivated to do so if anyone patents our idea and claims it as their own - this is a free idea. Everybody now owns it.

Published June 23, 2012

Wholesale, Export, and Manufacture of this product by other companies is an option. International distributorships are available for those wishing to export. Please email us to inquire about access to our wholesale website, or in regards to manufacturing any of our products.

Business Building Services Are Available - If you are wanting to build a business like this, where you make things in the home and sell them direct to the customer, or if you want to build a business that you can sell to other people as a complete business package, Firelight Heritage Farm is now offering Cottage Industry Services to aid small business owners in building a successful product or service business from the home. Don't know what you want to do? We can help you figure that out too (something original, and just yours, not a canned business). You get the wisdom and uniquely successful perspective and experience of people who have been business, marketing, and website professionals for more than a dozen years. For more information, visit CottageIndustrialRevolution.com. Why copy someone else's business when you can do something uniquely you and enjoy it so much more?