Left my sauerkraut jar in the basement for a month and came back to a science experiment

I was fermenting a big batch of red cabbage in a 2-gallon crock in my basement in Chicago. I got busy and completely forgot about it for about five weeks. When I finally checked, the brine had evaporated way down and a thick, white, rubbery film had formed on top. It smelled... off, not sour in a good way. I was ready to dump it, but I carefully skimmed off the entire film layer. Underneath, the cabbage itself looked and smelled fine, just very sour. I tasted a tiny bit and it was actually okay, just super strong. I ended up rinsing it and using it all in a big pot of soup. Has anyone else salvaged a batch that got a weird pellicle like that? What did you do with it?

3 comments

3 Comments

robert_lopez6416d ago

Chicago basements are perfect for growing weird stuff. That white film is usually just kahm yeast, not harmful mold. People toss way too much food over a harmless pellicle.

robinson.hannah16d ago

My first batch of kimchi in college grew a full inch of that white, rubbery stuff. I was sure it was a total loss and almost poured it down the drain. A friend who grew up fermenting told me to just peel it off like a bad sticker. The cabbage underneath was fine, just extra funky. I used it for fried rice and it was actually better than my normal batches. Changed my whole view on what "ruined" really means.

charles44216d ago

Oh man, that mental image of you staring at an inch of weird rubbery gunk is killing me. It's like your kimchi grew its own little mattress. So cool that you saved it and it turned out awesome, though. That's the kind of kitchen win that makes you feel like a wizard.