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Just realized my backup airlock wasn't actually a backup and I lost a whole batch of kimchi
I had a 5 gallon crock of napa cabbage kimchi going for about 3 weeks in my basement and the airlock on the lid was the cheap plastic 3 piece kind that I got in a kit from Amazon. I noticed the water in it had evaporated down to almost nothing on a Sunday morning, so I topped it off with tap water and figured I was fine. Turns out that was a huge mistake because the water had been low for days and oxygen got in, and by the time I checked it 6 days later there was a thin white film on top that smelled like nail polish remover. I did some reading and found out that acetobacter can turn a good ferment into vinegar in like 48 hours once oxygen is present, and there was no saving it. I dumped the whole crock, about $22 in cabbage and gochugaru and 3 weeks of waiting, right down the drain. Now I use a 3 piece airlock filled with cheap vodka instead of water so it doesn't evaporate as fast, and I check it every 2 days like a hawk. Has anyone else had an airlock dry out on a long ferment and did switching to vodka or mineral oil actually fix it for you?
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