I swore my sauerkraut was fine without a weight, but a moldy batch proved me wrong

Cameron Reed · 2026-03-26T00:55:04.499941+00:00

For years I just used a cabbage leaf, but my last ferment in a wide-mouth jar grew a fuzzy patch after 5 days. I finally bought a set of glass weights and haven't seen a speck of mold since. What's your go-to method for keeping everything submerged?

verafoster6mo ago

Honestly, weights can be a pain to clean and store. That fuzzy patch might have just been kahm yeast, which is harmless but looks bad. My trick is using a ziplock bag filled with brine as a float. It molds to the jar shape and pushes everything down perfectly. If the bag leaks, you're just adding more brine, not ruining the batch. Have you ever tried something like that instead?

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blair_hill596mo ago

Wow, I used to hate that idea but you've sold me.

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cora3656mo ago

My friend's batch got wrecked by a leaky bag.

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rosek446mo ago

Ziplock brine bag is genius.

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