I was thinking of making lemonade and was wondering if it would let CO2 into the atmosphere or not.

  • originalfrozenbanana
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    1 year ago

    Carbonated water and the byproduct of baking soda reacting with an acid both off gas carbon dioxide. Mixing carbonated water with lemonade will produce slightly fizzy lemonade. Adding baking soda to lemonade will just release the gas into the atmosphere unless you do it in a closed container like a soda bottle which is potentially extremely unsafe if you don’t know how much baking soda to add. Adding baking soda in a closed container may carbonate the lemonade because the CO2 dissolves into solution instead of escaping, but it’s also likely to explode if the container can’t withstand the pressure or has a defect.

      • I offer you 3 better alternatives to daily burping for fermentation.

        Good: Latex balloon with a pinhole in it. Stretch the neck over the opening of the container, when uninflated the pinhole is too small to let contaminates in, as the off gassing inflates the balloon the pinhole expands and the gasses are released.

        Pros- cheap, latex balloons are ubiquitous, not opening the container reduces the risk of infection

        Cons- stretching and wear to balloon prevents reuse, risk of tearing or slipping allowing too much gas to escape and contaminates to enter the container, vigorous fermentation may fill balloon with liquid/foam or cause a blowout

        Better: Airlock

        Pros- easiest option, airlock will be designed for use with container with no modification or customisation, least interaction needed generally no action will needed during fermentation but occasionally airlock may need refilled, resistant to blowout and fluid/foam leakage

        Cons- if there is a blowout it will be spectacular and potentially dangerous, can be difficult to find and expensive if not using one of a few standard types of fermentation containers,

        Best: Blow off tube, run a tube from the opening of the container to a container of water with the fermenter end having an airtight seal and the water end submerged. Water level must be below the level of the liquid in the fermenter.

        Pros- blowout proof, resistant to fluid/foam leakage and leakage is generally contained in the water container, all materials are available at hardware or craft stores and at most big box stores

        Cons- creating an airtight seal can be tricky for non-standard containers, requires the most space and materials