OK to open my fermentor?

As of tonight, my first batch has been in the primary fermentor inside my fermentation chamber for a solid week. I haven't even opened the door of the fridge, and it's been holding steady at 67 degrees. Is it ok to open the lid of the fermentor to take a look at my beer? I don't want to screw anything up.

yes, it's fine. just use sanitary practices.

It's best if you don't, but hey, it's your first batch.......You are gonna do it any way.

I did for my first batch. You'll find that unless it's krausening it's remarkably unexciting to look at in the bucket. It's usually dark, like your wort, although it may smell like the final product. If you're like me, you'll end up admiring your hydro samples a lot more.

You can go ahead and take a look if you want but don't make a habit of it. The more you open it, the more chances you invite infections that will ruin your good work. I'd let it be and resist the temptation to peek for at least three weeks.

What are you brewing, BTW?

Making a nut brown ale from a partial grain recipe. I'm not in the mood to mix up C-brite tonight anyway...so I'll let it sit. I probably won't check it until next week. Would you say I should bottle after 2 weeks? I'm being incredibly patient for me, but I don't want to ruin my hard work.

I've waited 3 for all of my brews so far, plus another 3 in the bottle. Of course, I tasted a few along the way. But I found that the 3 in primary plus 3 in bottles worked well for my first few batches.

Only the Hydrometer can tell you when to bottle. Check.. wait 3 days check again. if the measurements match, fermentation is done.

You're dealing with a massive population of living organisms, Sometimes they're a pack of go get'ers.. sometimes they'd rather spend more time on the couch drinking beer... oh wait....

You can bottle after two and your beer will be fine, but there are benefits to waiting...more settling of the yeast and sediment for one, bulk aging tends to improve a beer for another (for the same reason really - more stuff will have settled out), but with that said, your beer will condition and mature whether it's in a bucket or a bottle, you'll just end up drinking less green beer if you leave it in the bucket for a few weeks.

Some unsolicited advice here. But hey, you're new to the addiction, so any advice is good advice unless proven otherwise.

Get a wine thief. It'll make your life easier. You dip it into the bucket, let it fill, drop your hydrometer in and take your reading, then dump into a glass, taste, and you're done.

I do have a wine thief....that's what I used to take a sample after I racked to the fermentor. I just haven't opened the fermentor since then. It's been 10 days..my fermentation chamber is working perfectly....temp holding at 66 degrees the entire time. I would take a hydro reading, but I need to get some Star San or One Step sanitizer. The C-brite my kit came with is a pain to use, so I figure I'll wait to check it until I get some easier stuff to use.