Vent: People need to stop opening the fermentation jars every day to check on stuff

I have a buddy who started his first batch of kimchi last week and he kept texting me pics of him lifting the lid to peek at it. Every time you open that jar you let oxygen in and that's how you get mold on top. I lost a whole batch of hot sauce back in March because I was checking it too much. Now I use a glass weight and a tight seal and just wait until day 7 or so before I even look at it. For kraut I just press down the cabbage every few days and leave it alone. He argued that he needed to taste it to see if it was ready. I told him trust the smell and the time instead. Has anyone else had a batch go bad from too much checking?

3 comments

3 Comments

sandra_moore301d ago

I heard somewhere that opening the jar lets in mold spores from the air, just not worth the risk.

susan_allen1d agoRising Star

Wait, @sandra_moore30 are you saying just opening the jar once lets in enough mold spores to ruin everything? That sounds like something from a science lab, not a home kitchen. I mean sure, there are spores floating around everywhere, but we breathe them in all day and we're fine. I've been opening my ferments every few days for years and never had a mold problem. Maybe if you live in a super old dusty house or something, but for most people a quick peek is not going to invite an army of fuzzy invaders. It's more about using clean utensils and not leaving the jar open for long periods. People get way too scared about this stuff sometimes.

noahwood1d ago

Yeah "trust the smell and the time" is pretty much it for me too. I had a coworker who started fermenting his own hot sauce and he was the same way, lifting the lid every single day to taste it. He bragged about getting that "perfect flavor" but after day 4 he found fuzzy mold floating on top. He tried scraping it off but the whole batch had that weird off smell and he had to toss it. Now he just burps the jar once a week and waits at least 10 days before he even opens it. Sucks to learn that way but hopefully your buddy figures it out before he loses his kimchi.