Fermenting food near alcohol

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jyew

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Hi all, new to fermenting. I recently got a chest freezer to use as a fermenter seen as I live in a hot climate and it currently has a number of 1 gallon batches of beer / cider. Whenever I open the lid now there is a strong smell which I assume is co2. I’m wondering if this or anything else that has escaped the air locks may effect any food I ferment in the freezer? Especially if I am leaving the fermenting food only covered with cheese cloth. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
I wonder if the "strong smell" is the smell of ethanol expelled with the CO2 rather than the smell of CO2. You breath out CO2 and so you are quite used to the aroma of CO2 (which is I would argue almost odorless). The other cause for this smell might be the products you are fermenting. I know when I ferment cucumbers, cabbage or carrots on my countertop there is a very pleasant smell caused by the lactic acids produced by the bacteria that the brine solutions allow to thrive. If you are trapping those aromas in the freezer then they may be more concentrated and escape under pressure when you open the door.
 
It should be ok with the co2- however, the fermenting food has lactobacillus and I would keep them separate to avoid cross-contamination.

I don't ferment my beer and wine (yeast fermentations) anywhere need my food (mostly lacto) or kombucha (mixed culture) to avoid introducing bacteria into my brewery gear and products.
 
Thanks for the responses!

Yes it could well be ethanol rather than co2, it seems to be subsiding the closer my beers get to fermenting out anyway.

I just wanted to make sure it wouldn’t affect the taste of the foods I hadn’t even thought about the effect on my beer! I will have to rethink how I can separate them. The average temp in my house is 30c, so while I could leave the food to ferment on the countertop I’ve read it would happen quickly and I’d need to pay a bit more attention to it? I had tried milk kefir previously and found it was fermenting quicker than I could drink it!
 
The solution to the too-rapid fermentation of kefir is simple: you reduce the amount of grains in the amount of milk you are fermenting. I have cut back my grain size to about a teaspoon and now it takes about twice as long to ferment. For me this is perfect because I rarely eat kefir. I use the kefir I make to either use to culture milk for cheese making or to make a kefir hard cheese when I have collected enough curds to make the cheese from a gallon of kefir.
 
Thanks Bernard. I will do that with the kefir. When it comes to other ferments like kimchi or sauerkraut will they be ok to ferment at 30c or will that be too hot for them?
 
When it comes to other ferments like kimchi or sauerkraut will they be ok to ferment at 30c or will that be too hot for them?

I just started doing kimchi, tepachi, and beet kvass and I've been leaving mine out on the counter.. It's also hot here in SoCal but we keep the A/C on and have a roughly 26C room temp in the kitchen... that seems to work fine...
 
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