Hello Steemians!
It's been a whole month since our trial run started, and this is shaping up to be the best batch ever! While my methods haven't been entirely rigorous, I feel I can conclusively say that the most important factor has been the air conditioner. That hard-working unit has kept the room right around 64° F (17.8° C) the whole time, even with a pot of beef cheeks braising furiously in the adjoining poorly-ventilated kitchen for many hours. I'm sure it's happy that the summer heat seems to have passed us! (I know our radishes are.)
Anyways, sorry I missed last week's update. Truth is, pickles pretty much take care of themselves once you get the environmental parameters established. I did do a little sampling, which is why I'm already calling this our best batch ever. I could have sampled earlier, but I try to disturb the process as little as possible and to be honest I'm pretty confident in the outcome at this point. Also, it's a bit harder to get in and out of the glass jar-in-a-jar setup (although they are virtually ideal for minimizing surface area). If you're using ceramic crocks, it's much easier to fish out a tidbit now and then.
Sorry, no pics of the samples, but let me say the kraut is crispy and tart and the turnips are lovely as well. What really amazed me with this batch is that even though I was a bit lax in my sanitation procedures (there were a few floaters) there was hardly any yeast formed on top and virtually no yeasty taste! Again, I have to attribute this to the consistent temperatures.
In troubleshooting, the brine level dropped quite a bit more than I expected; if I had topped it off sooner, the batch would have been perfect. As it stands the procedure was to take a sample from each of the jars, scoop little off the top off each jar of kraut (the turnips were fine), top them off with fresh brine, and replace the paper towel covers.
Now, I'm assuming the brine loss was due to evaporation rather than spillage. Since water evaporates but not salt, that means the resulting salinity is higher than the 3.5% I started with. I could have done some math and whipped up a lower-strength brine to restore it to 3.5%, but I added such a small amount that I don't think it will matter.
Well that's it for pickles this week, but I also racked the kombucha and started a new batch. Racking is a brewing term which means to siphon off the liquid portion of a ferment, leaving being the sediment. It's a way of clarifying the liquid and it also affects the taste. As you can see in the photo below, I didn't actually use a siphon. I just poured it off! The result is pretty cloudy.
That gives you an idea of our batch size. One gallon in Mason jars ends up being 3.5 liters (0.925 gallons) with a little bit left over to start the next batch. Everyone says to use the old pellicle or SCOBY to start a new batch, but I find using an adequate portion of the finished liquid to be more important. The issue is making sure the initial pH is low enough to prevent colonization by undesired organisms. For those who are interested, it's apparently possible to collect a wild kombucha culture simply by adding vinegar to a sugar-water solution and leaving it out for several days. Also, for this ferment maximizing surface area is ideal, so make sure not to fill your vessel past the widest part of its walls.
Please note two fine gentleman of the Cyrillian LXIInd standing guard over our bounty: the two first models I've fully painted!
(They demanded close-ups)
And now, for the conclusion of our update:
Cheeky. But what manner of hex might Ev Dogg be casting, you ask?
'Tis not a hex at all, but a boon! A ward against chlorine and fluoride, namely.
And here it is in place. (and while it may not be a hex, I am afraid a great many curses were sworn in its installation)
In other words, it's a water filter. Maybe $40 for all the parts. It'll save on water for our pickles and fish tank and the cartridge is refillable so we'll save money buying filter medium in bulk vs. having to get a new one every six months or so. Full of magical color-changing deionizing resin!
Two more weeks to go, friends! Now it's time for 
Thanks for reading, upvoting, and resteeming! Please feel free to ask questions about the process.
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