Re: Lemons gone awry

[Guest guest]

Two things the recipes I looked at mentioned is be sure there is enough salt and

to put a lid on the container. Not doing either correctly can result in fungus

growth. I would say that is what you have.

a

----- Original Message -----

From: karin_aspiraling

I made South Indian pickled lemons a few days ago, following family

instructions someone posted online. He said to put a lid on the jar, which

seemed counter-intuitive to me, so I covered it like all my ferments and put it

up. In the instructions, he said to put chopped lemons, salt, and tumeric in the

vessel and stir daily, then 7-10 days later add the remaining spices. So,

yesterday, which was about day four, I took it down to stir and there was

white-blue mold growing on my lemons.

[Guest guest]

I made a recipe something like that awhile back, and there was a layer of

oil they put on the top. That works rather well for keeping air off pickle

and salsa recipes. Usually when mold happens though, it's because the

ferment isn't either acid or salty enough. Ideally you want it to get nice

and acidic fast, before the mold has a chance to get started. I never eat

anything that has gotten moldy, myself: to me it's a sign the ferment failed

(and some molds are rather toxic: I don't know how to tell which ones are

and which ones are not).

Lately I made some " Moroccan salted lemons " which are not really a ferment:

you just pack the lemons with salt and then put them in a jar of lemon

juice, then store them in the fridge for a few weeks to ripen. Super easy

and they have no tendency to mold. I'm not sure they even need to be in the

fridge (I suspect then were not, in Morocco, originally).

On Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 6:10 AM, karin_aspiraling <aspiraling@...>wrote:

> I made South Indian pickled lemons a few days ago, following family

> instructions someone posted online. He said to put a lid on the jar, which

> seemed counter-intuitive to me, so I covered it like all my ferments and put

> it up. In the instructions, he said to put chopped lemons, salt, and

> tumeric in the vessel and stir daily, then 7-10 days later add the remaining

> spices. So, yesterday, which was about day four, I took it down to stir and

> there was white-blue mold growing on my lemons.

>

> My guess is that, first of all, it's not a mold to eat; secondly, that this

> happened because I left the vessel 'open.' Do you think my first two

> suppositions are correct? Do you have any other thoughts or feedback about

> this one? I'm about to try again, so you're feedback is most welcome!

>

>

>

http://eatingoffthefoodgrid.blogspot.com/

[Guest guest]

I've made those in Sri Lanka, as has my mother in law and many others in Sri

Lanka. We never add aditional juice - it's just the limes (or the lemons) and

salt. They're not refrigerated and don't go bad, although they can dry out over

time. We can also buy them in plastic bags at the grocery on the shelf.

There's another type of lime (or lemon) pickle that's in a jar with other things

in it, like chillies, cayenne, other seasonings. It's also a salt preservation.

Laurie who's no longer in Sri Lanka but now in New Zealand

--- On Tue, 4/5/11,

[Guest guest]

Hm. I'll have to try that with just the lemons and salt, that would be

easier!

On Wed, Apr 20, 2011 at 12:34 AM, Laurie Ashton Farook

<lmashton@...>wrote:

> I've made those in Sri Lanka, as has my mother in law and many others in

> Sri Lanka. We never add aditional juice - it's just the limes (or the

> lemons) and salt. They're not refrigerated and don't go bad, although they

> can dry out over time. We can also buy them in plastic bags at the grocery

> on the shelf.

>

> There's another type of lime (or lemon) pickle that's in a jar with other

> things in it, like chillies, cayenne, other seasonings. It's also a salt

> preservation.

>

> Laurie who's no longer in Sri Lanka but now in New Zealand

>

> --- On Tue, 4/5/11,