GoFerm solidified in packet

[skyfire322]

Silly question. I grabbed my factory sealed packet of GoFerm (bought back in April) and noticed it has solidified in chunks. Can I just smash it up in the packet, or is it indicative of it going bad? I know that it has a shelf life of two years, so I don't *think* it would be an issue.

 

[whackfol]

Not a direct answer, But:
I have only purchased factory Lallemand products a few times because of size. Two years ago I did buy the smallest Go Ferm package which I think was a Kg. It was vacuumed packed and came out in chunks but easily granulated as I moved it.
If it’s rock hard, I would notify your supplier or Lallemand. They are best able to advise you and might like to know they may have a packaging problem.

 

[skyfire322]

Not a direct answer, But:
I have only purchased factory Lallemand products a few times because of size. Two years ago I did buy the smallest Go Ferm package which I think was a Kg. It was vacuumed packed and came out in chunks but easily granulated as I moved it.
If it’s rock hard, I would notify your supplier or Lallemand. They are best able to advise you and might like to know they may have a packaging problem.

Thankfully it's not rock hard; almost like brown sugar chunks which were pretty easy. Thank you!

 

[Ajmassa]

You are not alone. I had same issue with nutrients at 6 months old. Most Too far gone to use. Now im buying certain nutrients as needed.

 

[skyfire322]

You are not alone. I had same issue with nutrients at 6 months old. Most Too far gone to use. Now im buying certain nutrients as needed.

View attachment 44926

Yikes! Mine did look a little bit like that, but not as chunky as that. Since it was only a few months old, I decided to crush it into much smaller chunks, then when I stirred it into the water I just made sure it was all dissolved before adding the yeast.

 

[whackfol]

Those are repackaged and not factory packed like the OP mentioned. It does bring up a question as to whether there are differences in how retailers like MoreWine (one from the photo) or others repackage to assure freshness and whether the product is compromised. I guess for many products it doesn’t matter, but for yeast it probably does. On the other hand, were someone not willing to break them down, many of the 500g+ minimum size packaged items would not be available to us.

 

[Ajmassa]

Everything about 6 months old (not just what’s in that picture)
Repackaged:
Microessential malo nutrient - rocky
Reduless- good
All yeast from LodiLabs- good (only thing refrigerated)
Vacuum sealed:
Go-ferm protect- rocky
Ferm K - good
Opti-red - rocky
Opti malo- good
GoFerm Protect in jar - good

I figured it was more of a chemical thing than the packaging. Ferm k keeps. GoFerm doesn’t. Go-Ferm Protect in the jar did keep though.
Opti malo keeps while the other malo nutrient didn’t. . Opti red also doesn’t keep.
Maybe refrigerating all those nurtients would have helped. So I’ll be solely using opti-malo for ML nutrient. And buying go-Ferm fresh. And also opti-red fresh if using. All others kept well regardless of packaging.

 

[salcoco]

the problem is moisture. I buy canning jars and purchase plastic lids. they seals well keeps the moisture out and keeps the additive in powder form

 

[cdjohnston]

Uhhh - this should be a powder through and through. I always order two weeks before crush and i generally get the 2.5Kg bag. But for the lab, i get the 1Kg bag.

If you go to scottlab.com you can order from them and have confidence that they will do you right.

I store my excess in mason jars with the solid lid. not the canning lid.

You could also add some desiccant packets to the jar to help preserve it. This works really well: https://ebay.to/2qJQO67