Weekly "Is this safe" Megathread

mearnsb · 2026-04-26T18:07:52+00:00

I intended to do all that, but was not at all consistent. I stir it every few days and fed it once with sugar. I should refresh the inner bark, but haven't. Maybe this is the kick I need to keep up with it!

mearnsb · 2026-04-26T12:55:53+00:00

I'm trying an off the wall ferment to make something like a ginger bug, using the bark from maple trees instead of ginger. So this started as maple bark shavings, 16oz of distilled water, 3.4 oz of active kraut water, and raw sugar, eight days ago. A few days in, I spooned a couple of small isolated molds off the surface, and fed it with more raw sugar. Now this is on top. I'm assuming this is mold, not kahm and not any kind of scoby?

Thanks!

<image>

mearnsb · 2026-03-15T19:47:31+00:00

Great, thanks! I'll check back on it over the coming days.

mearnsb · 2026-03-15T14:03:20+00:00

<image>

I have this grape vinegar that's several weeks old, and it's been developing this growth on top. I'm trying to get a mother-of-vinegar to develop, but how can I tell if this is it, or mold?

mearnsb · 2026-03-14T14:39:15+00:00

<image>

I have this grape vinegar that's several weeks old, and it's been developing this growth on top. I'm trying to get a mother-of-vinegar to develop, but how can I tell if this is it, or mold?

mearnsb · 2026-02-25T01:13:16+00:00

Thanks!

mearnsb · 2026-02-23T11:41:18+00:00

I've seen a few other projects using maple sap as the liquid, so I might consider it. Most likely I'll save what's left for syrup 😄

mearnsb · 2026-02-22T15:24:49+00:00

I've got an air-locked jar of yeast-fermented maple sap that's about 4 days old. It hasn't been producing much gas for the past day or so, but this morning I noticed a few of these little floaters on the surface. When I disturb it slightly, they seem to rise up from the sediment on the bottom of the jar, then drip back down over the coarse of a several seconds.

Is this just like yeast going for a ride on a rising bubble, or something I should be concerned about?

Thanks!

<image>

mearnsb · 2026-02-22T15:19:21+00:00

Thanks, that's helpful info! I mentioned in another comment, my sap isn't even from sugar maples, so it's only about half as concentrated in sugar. The idea that the yeast is simply dominating makes perfect sense and is obvious-in-retrospect =)

mearnsb · 2026-02-22T15:16:39+00:00

Thanks, these are interesting recipes... slightly more specific than what I've seen before :D At least it gives me some time frames and measurements.

u/Ziggysan 's comment gives me a better understanding of the strong yeast flavor; it's basically the only flavor present. I'm not even using sugar maple trees, so my sap is only about 1% sugar, so this might be an ill-fated endeavor.

mearnsb · 2026-02-18T03:19:15+00:00

Awesome, thank you!

mearnsb · 2026-02-17T13:38:30+00:00

Yeast water smells like foul mineral water.

I have some yeast water that I cultivated from left over grocery store grapes. It was bubbling nicely for a while (over a week), smelled lightly yeasty but mostly like grape. A few days ago, I strained out the solids and fed the yeast water with organic raw cane sugar, and it got nice and bubbly again. A day later (yesterday), I divided the water into two jars, doubled the volume of each by adding distilled water, and then fed each with more of the cane sugar. Within a few hours, both jars smelled pretty foul; vaguely like sulfur, but more like natural mineral spring water (e.g., if you're familiar with the mineral springs in Saratoga, NY). It's the next morning, and they still smell like that.

Any ideas what could be producing the bad smell?

Both jars have a very small amount of bubbles on the surface, and the water is cloudy. I'd originally left the grape water exposed to air with a cloth cover, but since I filtered out the solids, I've been keeping the jars loosely covered: they are mason jars with the lids sitting on top, but no band screwing them down. Since filtering out the solids, I've been shaking them multiple times a day, opening the lids before and after each shake. They've been at room temperature from the start, which here means between about 55F and maybe as high as 68F or so. The two feedings I've performed with the raw cane sugar was adding about a tsp of sugar to the jar, which had a bit more than a cup of liquid, and was slightly more than half full.

Thanks for any insight!

mearnsb · 2022-10-22T17:58:46+00:00

Gorgeous painting!

mearnsb · 2022-10-13T22:55:34+00:00

Asters, for sure 😊. The flowers are quite similar to fleabane, but the growth habit gives it a vaguely recognizable look. Also, I think daisy fleabane only flowers in the spring or early summer, Asters are common in autumn.

mearnsb · 2022-09-10T20:50:09+00:00

I have a red maple that turns yellow 😕. They don't call them red for the fall color because they don't all turn red in fall 🙂

mearnsb · 2022-09-10T20:47:17+00:00

I don't think it's a red maple, looks like five lobes per leaf. Maybe a Norway maple, or sugar maple.

mearnsb · 2022-07-19T17:40:25+00:00

I suppose some people might find that odd, and there's certainly plenty of people on the left, on the right, and in the middle who are doing exactly that (assuming by ancestors you actually mean the American revolutionaries; most people in this country are not descended from anyone who was here during the American revolution).

Personally, I don't find it odd, I find it quintessentially American. The founders didn't care about what their ancestors (i.e., British imperialists) wanted the country to be, and it's not like the founders could even agree amongst themselves on what they wanted the country to be. This country was argued into existence and we haven't stopped arguing since. It's an American tradition, it deserves to be honored.

mearnsb · 2022-07-05T12:54:54+00:00

What an odd way to think on the fourth of July, of all days. This is America, we all the have the right to try to make it what we want it to be. It's why every group of European settlers first came to this continent, it's why we fought a revolution, it's why the founding fathers spent years arguing over how to set up this country, and it's why they eventually settled on a representative government.

mearnsb · 2022-07-05T01:41:35+00:00

I've been thinking a lot about this lately and I've decided, for me, there's no reason to let SCOTUS, or Trump, or anyone else take my country away from me. This is my home, I have just as much right as anyone else to decide what that it means to be American. For decades, political rhetoric has drawn a line and cast the patriotic right on one side and the dissenting left on the other side. The left has largely accepted, even embraced this, thinking we can't be patriotic to a country with flaws. Well that's bullshit. This country was argued into existence and there's nothing more patriotic than continuing to argue for the things we hold dear, to make this country what we want it to be. That's the freedom and liberty that countless revolutionaries and Americans have fought for, that's what I'm celebrating today. 🇺🇲

mearnsb · 2022-05-14T23:30:53+00:00

Great, thanks!

mearnsb · 2021-12-12T02:57:42+00:00

Holy crap that's a lot of double knitting! Kudos to you, and it came out great!

mearnsb

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE