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So my sauerkraut just sat there for 6 weeks before it finally started bubbling
I started a batch of sauerkraut back in October and absolutely nothing happened for what felt like forever. I checked the brine level, the temp was around 68F in my kitchen corner, even added a little extra salt after week 3. Turns out my cabbage was super old and probably had barely any natural bacteria left on it - I threw in a spoonful of whey from some yogurt on day 42 and it finally took off. Has anyone else dealt with a stalled ferment that long and figured out a fix?
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betty_white3928d ago
That's a wild one. Had a similar thing with a batch of kimchi once, sat dead for two months in my basement. I figured out it was the veg itself - I used an old napa cabbage from the back of my fridge that was just too dried out. Tossed in a splash of brine from a friend's active ferment, and it woke up in two days. The whey trick is clever but risky though, can mess with the flavor profile. Bet your kraut turned out real funky after all that waiting. Next time just grab a fresh cabbage from the store, not the farmer's market.
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jesse_nguyen28d ago
Yeah that two month wait must've been brutal. Glad you stuck with it though, nothing worse than tossing a whole batch.
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Oh man, I feel your pain on this one. Six weeks of staring at a jar that won't do anything is the worst kind of patience test. I definitely think your fix with the whey was smart even if it is a gamble, better than letting all that effort go to waste.
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