My kimchi went weird and fizzy for almost a month before I figured it out

I started a big batch of napa cabbage kimchi back in early March, using my usual recipe. After a week on the counter, it was way too fizzy, almost like soda, and tasted really sharp. I thought I just needed to let it mellow in the fridge, but after three more weeks it was still off. I checked everything, my salt ratio, the jar seal, even the temperature in my kitchen. Turns out, I accidentally used a jar that wasn't fully clean from a previous ferment, and some old yeast from a ginger bug must have been in there. It took me a full 28 days of tasting and worrying to finally dump it and start over with sterilized jars. Has anyone else had a ferment get taken over by yeast like that? How do you make sure your jars are totally clean?

3 comments

3 Comments

oscarb711mo ago

Oh man, that's rough. A buddy of mine had a similar thing happen with some pickles. He reused a crock without a proper scrub and got this foamy, yeasty mess that smelled like bread dough. He's a stickler for cleaning now. He runs his jars through the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle, or gives them a good long soak in really hot water with some bleach if he's worried. It's a pain, but he says it's the only way to be sure.

shanegibson1mo ago

Sometimes a little wild yeast makes the flavor more interesting though.

the_drew22d ago

Totally agree that life would be boring without some randomness, but there's a fine line between "interesting flavor" and "ruined batch" (which is basically the story of my sourdough starter last month).