homemade ketchup question

[bigknitwit]

After a long break from this board (I've been dealing with my own raging hypo-thyroid, as well as though of my children ), I'm back with a ketchup question.

I recently tried making my own ketchup following the NT recipe. I didn't have any whey on hand though, so I just went ahead without it (and without the fish sauce). Howeve the recipe said to make sure the ketchup was at least 1 inch from the top of the jar. My ketchup mixture was pretty thick so I covered it with 1 inch of water to help with the lacto-fermentation process (anaerobic, right?). However at the bottom of the jar there was an air pocket (it was a really thick ketchup mixture!). Should I be concerned about this? I left it on the counter for a couple of days, but didn't taste any "zing" like I've tasted from other fermented stuff I've made in the past. So I left it a few more days and then transferred to the fridge without tasting. So, is this ketchup safe to eat, given

1. The lack of whey in the mixture.
2. The "air pocket" at the bottom of the jar
3. The lack of fermented taste after a couple of days.

[pampered_mom]

Just a couple of thoughts...

*whey - if you don't have any whey or need to leave it out of the recipe for whatever reason then I'd probably put it straight in the fridge w/out leaving it out. I'd be concerned that there really wasn't any beneficial bacteria in there to keep the nasties from populating the mixture.

*thickness - if you left out the whey and the fish sauce that would explain why it was so very thick. If it had been me I would have added some additiona liquid into the recipe so that I'd have something more than just garlic flavored tomato paste.

*fish sauce - I hate the ketchup with the fish sauce in it so I usually replace the fish sauce called for in the recipe with fermented soy sauce. It gives it a nice flavor, but avoids the fishy undertones.

*fermented flavor - I know that SF classifies the ketchup under the "fermented" category, but I've never had a fermented type flavor in mine and I've made it three times so far. I'll have to let other weigh in as to whether that's been the case for them.

Oh...and it might be a good idea to see if Sandor Katz has a recipe for ketchup just for comparison's sake.

[caedmyn]

You can use liquid from a previous ferment (sauerkraut or whatever) in place of whey. That's what I've always done with the ketchup. I also use water in place of the fish sauce and mix it in. Sometimes mine comes out really thick and sometimes it doesn''t, not sure why. I don't think the air pocket would affect it. My ketchup never really tastes fermented, either.

[saratc]

It's the whey and the fish sauce that will add the bacteria to ferment and preserve the ketchup. I would worry about it growing things otherwise. But it should be okay if it doesn't smell bad since rotten stuff is pretty distinguishable.