Guest guest Posted October 25, 2006 Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 Dirk Coetsee wrote: > Hi there, > > I notice that if I leave my home-made sauerkraut or kimchi lying outside (or > even in the fridge for a while), a layer of mold seems to develop on the > surface exposed to the air. I found this kind of weird since I figured the > acid and microbes would protect it from mold formation. Huh. I dunno. I've never ever had kraut or kimchi mold ... it goes " sweet " after awhile and gets mushy. I've kept some for over a year. I can't say it tasted good, but it wasn't moldy. Kimchi doesn't mold either, for me. Except a couple of times I made batches that had lots of fruit in them. I don't seem to be successful with fruit kimchi. There is a kind of white yeasty stuff that grows on some ferments. I don't think it is mold ... at least it doesn't smell like mold and it doesn't seem to hurt anything. I get that on kefir sometimes and sometimes on pickles. How much salt is in your kraut? That could be one variant ... > UNLESS the mold is a > fungal species living in the stuff that grows more in aerobic conditions. I > really don't know. What do you think? Is this normal? It troubles me. Not to get technical, but isn't mold a kind of fungus? -- Heidi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 25, 2006 Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 Yes, the stuff that grows is like a fine white film. Perhaps I should add some more salt (can't recall how much I use, but I know it is about 2/3 of the recommendations I've seen elsewhere). I am not sure if it's pathogenic, but it doesn't smell great. I do add some sweeter stuff to my ferments e.g. pumpkin and sometimes berries or a little apple. Maybe that's a problem? On 10/25/06, HeidiS <heidis@...> wrote: > > Dirk Coetsee wrote: > > > Hi there, > > > > I notice that if I leave my home-made sauerkraut or kimchi lying > outside (or > > even in the fridge for a while), a layer of mold seems to develop on the > > surface exposed to the air. I found this kind of weird since I > figured the > > acid and microbes would protect it from mold formation. > > Huh. I dunno. I've never ever had kraut or kimchi mold ... it > goes " sweet " after awhile and gets mushy. I've kept some for > over a year. I can't say it tasted good, but it wasn't moldy. > Kimchi doesn't mold either, for me. Except a couple > of times I made batches that had lots of fruit in them. > I don't seem to be successful with fruit kimchi. > > There is a kind of white yeasty stuff that grows on some > ferments. I don't think it is mold ... at least it doesn't smell like mold > and it doesn't seem to hurt anything. I get that on kefir sometimes > and sometimes on pickles. > > How much salt is in your kraut? That could be one variant ... > > > UNLESS the mold is a > > fungal species living in the stuff that grows more in aerobic > conditions. I > > really don't know. What do you think? Is this normal? It troubles me. > > Not to get technical, but isn't mold a kind of fungus? > > -- Heidi > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 25, 2006 Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 Dirk Coetsee wrote: > Yes, the stuff that grows is like a fine white film. Perhaps I should add > some more salt (can't recall how much I use, but I know it is about 2/3 of > the recommendations I've seen elsewhere). I am not sure if it's pathogenic, > but it doesn't smell great. I do add some sweeter stuff to my ferments e.g. > pumpkin and sometimes berries or a little apple. Maybe that's a problem? OK, I've seen something like the fine white film. I don't think it's mold (one of these days I'm gonna break out the ol' scope and see for sure ...) but I usually get it on " bad " ferments which don't taste all that great either. And yeah, sweet ferments are harder to do. I think adding loads of pepper (like the Koreans do) would help, or some vinegar, or more salt. And keep the air out ... if the bottle is undisturbed it should be mostly CO2 in the bottle (it's heavier than air). Interestingly though, my kefir beer, which has tons of sugar and NO salt, never gets moldy either. Anything with a kefir grain, in fact, doesn't get moldy ... even if the kefir is used to make bread. Kefir beer has ethanol though ... -- Heidi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 25, 2006 Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 I'm pretty sure that the white film is a yeast and is almost always due to oxygen exposure. Cooler fermentation temps help somewhat but other than that and keeping the air out I'm not sure what the variable(s) are. My kimchi gets this sometimes and usually it's accompanied by a mushy texture and bad flavor.. If you get your hands on some real Korean red pepper you use a 1/2 cup for only a few pounds of cabbage and this really seems to help with an appropriate fermentation. It's fairly mild but has a perfect flavor for Kimchi and makes the whole batch a very appealing shade of red ;~) Fermenting your kraut and/or kimchi below 68F is a good place to start..I get my red pepper (and dried whole baby shrimp) from koamart.com Beau On 10/25/06, HeidiS <heidis@...> wrote: > > Dirk Coetsee wrote: > > > Yes, the stuff that grows is like a fine white film. Perhaps I should > add > > some more salt (can't recall how much I use, but I know it is about > 2/3 of > > the recommendations I've seen elsewhere). I am not sure if it's > pathogenic, > > but it doesn't smell great. I do add some sweeter stuff to my > ferments e.g. > > pumpkin and sometimes berries or a little apple. Maybe that's a problem? > > OK, I've seen something like the fine white film. I don't think it's > mold (one of these days I'm gonna break out the ol' scope and see > for sure ...) but I usually get it on " bad " ferments which don't taste > all that great either. > > And yeah, sweet ferments are harder to do. I think adding loads > of pepper (like the Koreans do) would help, or some vinegar, > or more salt. And keep the air out ... if the bottle is undisturbed it > should be mostly CO2 in the bottle (it's heavier than air). > > Interestingly though, my kefir beer, which has tons of sugar > and NO salt, never gets moldy either. Anything with a kefir grain, > in fact, doesn't get moldy ... even if the kefir is used to make bread. > Kefir beer has ethanol though ... > > -- Heidi > > > -- Evolving Creations Glass www.evolvingcreations.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 25, 2006 Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 Beau Barrett wrote: >I'm pretty sure that the white film is a yeast and is almost always due to >oxygen exposure. In recipes I've read, it's usually called " kahm yeast " and is harmless, but doesn't help the texture or flavour - discard it, but don't worry about it. I agree with Beau + Heidi - too much oxygen, not enough salt. >[...] >If you get your hands on some real Korean red pepper you use a 1/2 cup for >only a few pounds of cabbage and this really seems to help with an >appropriate fermentation. It's fairly mild but has a perfect flavor for >Kimchi and makes the whole batch a very appealing shade of red ;~) Strongly agree! It makes for a very nice colour, and it's also a good replacement for mild paprika - great flavour and just a prick of heat. Nice in corn muffins Oh and Dirk: moulds, yeasts and mushrooms are all fungi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungi -- Ross McKay, Toronto, NSW Australia " Let the laddie play wi the knife - he'll learn " - The Wee Book of Calvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 26, 2006 Report Share Posted October 26, 2006 Ok. Yeah, the batch was definitely made in a slightly warmer environment with a little less salt than there should have been. I'll watch those factors next time. I was trying to be careful about oxygen, but I guess some could have creeped in. It's so annoying. Takes me so long to make such a huge batch of cabbage... On 10/26/06, Ross McKay <rosko@...> wrote: > > Beau Barrett wrote: > > >I'm pretty sure that the white film is a yeast and is almost always due > to > >oxygen exposure. > > In recipes I've read, it's usually called " kahm yeast " and is harmless, > but doesn't help the texture or flavour - discard it, but don't worry > about it. I agree with Beau + Heidi - too much oxygen, not enough salt. > > >[...] > >If you get your hands on some real Korean red pepper you use a 1/2 cup > for > >only a few pounds of cabbage and this really seems to help with an > >appropriate fermentation. It's fairly mild but has a perfect flavor for > >Kimchi and makes the whole batch a very appealing shade of red ;~) > > Strongly agree! It makes for a very nice colour, and it's also a good > replacement for mild paprika - great flavour and just a prick of heat. > Nice in corn muffins > > Oh and Dirk: moulds, yeasts and mushrooms are all fungi: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungi > -- > Ross McKay, Toronto, NSW Australia > " Let the laddie play wi the knife - he'll learn " > - The Wee Book of Calvin > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 26, 2006 Report Share Posted October 26, 2006 be aware: Dried red chili sometimes contains red colouring that is illegal to use in Norway (Sudan nr11 or some such name) Tove Re: Mold on kraut > I'm pretty sure that the white film is a yeast and is almost always due to > oxygen exposure. > Cooler fermentation temps help somewhat but other than that and keeping > the > air out I'm not sure what the variable(s) are. My kimchi gets this > sometimes > and usually it's accompanied by a mushy texture and bad flavor.. > If you get your hands on some real Korean red pepper you use a 1/2 cup for > only a few pounds of cabbage and this really seems to help with an > appropriate fermentation. It's fairly mild but has a perfect flavor for > Kimchi and makes the whole batch a very appealing shade of red ;~) > Fermenting your kraut and/or kimchi below 68F is a good place to start..I > get my red pepper (and dried whole baby shrimp) from koamart.com > Beau > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 28, 2006 Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 Hey Beau, Thanks for the site. I have a crop of different kinds of chiles I want to pickle some, and use some in kraut or kimchi. Any suggestions or recipes?! Audrey <snipet> > > Fermenting your kraut and/or kimchi below 68F is a good place to start..I > > get my red pepper (and dried whole baby shrimp) from koamart.com > > Beau > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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