Stabilizing FFJ: brix level
What brix level should be present in a finished, sugar stabilized FFJ?
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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5 sources
The library gives no brix number for a finished, sugar-stabilized FFJ. It gives sugar ratios instead.
- Cho's text says to keep fruit and black sugar at one kilogram to 1.2 kilograms in summer, and one to one in winter. (Cho, Theory, p. 76)
- Drake's recipe adds an equal weight of brown sugar, ferments about a week, then pours the juice off. (Office Hours Ep. 6, 42:02)
- The KNF Demystified recipe also calls for roughly equal parts by weight of brown sugar. (KNF Demystified, p. 37)
Drake said that if you use FFJ within a week, you do not need supersaturation. (Office Hours Ep. 36, 1:00:28) The library does not say what a longer-keeping, supersaturated batch should read.
A brix meter reads sugar from squeezed juice on a refractometer. (Office Hours Ep. 13, 23:48) The library gives no target reading for FFJ.
Sources
- 1:00:28 Office Hours Ep. 36 (Jun 2022) — Jadam Sulfur Safety, Muscovado vs Brown Sugar, Dioxin Cleanup · “so muscovado should work fine, especially within a week without needing supersaturation.”
- 23:48 Office Hours Ep. 13 (Jan 2022) — OHN Pour-Off Ratios, KNF Sprayers, Piglet Diarrhea · “A Brix meter reads sugar from squeezed juice on a refractometer”
- 42:02 Office Hours Ep. 6 (Nov 2021) — IMO4 Degreaser, Pig Pen Biochar, Maltose Growth Stimulant · “add an equal weight of brown sugar, smash those things. Get all that juice, let it ferment for about a week, then pour that juice off”
- p. 76 Cho, Theory · “In summer, maintain the ratio of fruits and vegetables one kilogram and black sugar 1.] to 1.2 kilograms, and let the ratio be one to one in winter.”
- p. 37 KNF Demystified · “Add roughly equal parts by weight of brown sugar”
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