Left ffj outside, still good?
I left most of my ffj outside accidently and I normally store in fridge instead of adding more sugar after its done. A couple of them have a noticeable alcohol smell. R they ruined??
Top answer
There are other reasons besides just preservation at room temperature to include the supersaturation of the KNF Food.
To answer your question, are they ruined? No. Are they degraded? Yes. In addition to vital enzymes and plant metabolites there are also a host of biological residents in the KNF Food. All of these degrade as fermentation continues beyond the initial arresting after extraction, albeit at a slower pace. The KNF Food will continue to transform the material as biology and chemistry dictate.
The presence of further alcohol in the solution is okay and still is indicative of the presence of yeast which is desired, but it is when this turns to vinegar that the biology has shifted to acetic acid bacteria and indicate a presence of much more bacteria, which mean much more of the vital stuff you want has degraded significantly.
One way I avoid this situation is to keep my preserved collections in preservation and then fill up a "working jar" with just enough for that month, usually blended with KNF Cleanser and KNF Medicine in the appropriate ratios so that I don't have to carry around a bunch of jars, and if I forget it or spill it I am not loosing the farm so to speak.
From the KNF library
From the KNF library
Drafted by Claude from Office Hours and the books
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Sep 2026
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3 sources
Drake's reply above covers the loss in quality. The library adds a smell test and two storage notes.
- Smell and taste each jar. Juice should not smell or taste like alcohol or vinegar, and it gets smoother the longer it sits. (Office Hours Ep. 14, 35:45)
- Cho's FPJ notes say to add more black sugar for storage, so the juice does not oxidize or turn to alcohol. That note is about FPJ, not FFJ. (Cho, Theory, p. 71)
- The KNF Demystified FFJ steps say to store the poured-off juice out of direct sunlight, where temperature changes little. (KNF Demystified, p. 37)
The library does not say how long outdoor exposure is safe. It also does not say whether adding sugar now would rescue a jar that already smells of alcohol.
Sources
- 35:45 Office Hours Ep. 14 (Jan 2022) — JADAM Sulfur, Humic Acid From Compost, C90 Seawater Ratio · “it should not smell or taste like alcohol or vinegar, and it gets smoother the longer it sits”
- p. 37 KNF Demystified · “store out of direct sunlight where there will be little temperature fluctuation”
- p. 71 Cho, Theory · “put more black sugar to make it more densely concentrated so that it may not oxidize or turn to alcohol”
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