What should FPJ smell like ?
Top answer
From the KNF library
Drake's library sets the finish line at 7 days. (Student's Manual, Basic Course, p. 36) It says quality appears to diminish after that. (Student's Manual, Basic Course, p. 34) Your second batch sat about 2½ weeks, so it ran well past that window.
The library describes finished FPJ as having a light alcohol smell. (Student's Manual, Basic Course, p. 34) It does not list vinegar. Drake wants one fermentation, then enough sugar to stop it. (Pure KNF Manual, p. 38)
To store FPJ, add an equal weight of brown sugar. That keeps it from souring. (Student's Manual, Basic Course, p. 34)
The library does make vinegar from finished FPJ. Use one-third FPJ and two-thirds water. (Office Hours Ep. 7, 6:10) That is a separate, deliberate recipe.
The library does not say whether a vinegar smell in a batch left this long means it is spoiled or still usable. That needs Drake's nose.
Sources
- 6:10 Office Hours Ep. 7 (Nov 2021) — Fermented Seawater, Brown Rice Vinegar, Fish Amino Acid · “Take finished FPJ, use one-third of a bucket plus two-thirds water, and let it ferment into vinegar.”
- p. 34 Student's Manual, Basic Course · “the quality of FPJ appears to diminish thereafter”
- p. 38 Pure KNF Manual · “we want fermentation to occur once, then we want to super saturate the liquid with sugar to arrest the fermentation”
- p. 36 Student's Manual, Basic Course · “Fermentation should happen in 2-3 days, no longer than 7 days”
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