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I've made Kimchi using this recipe (german link, but I think it should be a pretty standard recipe).

I let it ferment for a week at room temperature and everything looked fine (it was covered in water/brine throughout).

I put it in the fridge today (to keep fermenting for another 2-3 weeks), and after a couple of hours in the fridge it now looks like all the water has been removed (I assume it was soaked up by the vegetables).

I am worried that it will go bad now, as it's not covered in water anymore. But I am unsure what to do.

  • Is this normal? If not, what went wrong, and how can I prevent it in the future?
  • What should I do now? Refill the glasses with water? And if so, should I use salt water?
tim
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  • was the container completely open? loosely covered? – Chris H Feb 28 '22 at 15:44
  • @ChrisH I'm using a fermentation jar that has a lid with a gas release-thingy built in. So I'd say loosely covered? But I doubt it's evaporation, in case that's what you are thinking (as the water was there for 7 days outside the fridge, and then "gone" after a couple of hours in the fridge). – tim Feb 28 '22 at 16:12
  • That the sort of thing I was thinking of, as the air in fridges can be very dry. – Chris H Feb 28 '22 at 16:14
  • @ChrisH Interesting, I wouldn't have thought that it could go so quickly (especially considering the low temp). Though I'm also not sure how much exactly left; just that it's not covered anymore for at least the top couple cm. Now I wish I'd weighted the whole thing before putting it in the fridge, then I could say for sure. Anyway, do you know if I should fill it back up with salted or unsalted water? – tim Feb 28 '22 at 16:23
  • I'll let the fermentation experts weight in on that (though if it didn't spill, the salt can't have gone anywhere). I was just trying to understand. If it was in a wide open container, going in warm to a very dry fridge, that would seem like a lot of evaporation, but with a lid, I don't think it was that, or not mainly – Chris H Feb 28 '22 at 16:36
  • Is the ‘gas release thingy’ a little thing with water in it, so that air back bubble out? If so, is there water in that? – Joe Feb 28 '22 at 19:18
  • @Joe No, it's a hole in the lid in which there's a little plastic release valve; there is no water involved. – tim Feb 28 '22 at 20:04
  • And a small update: I filled up the jars with plain water (it turns out that it was only a couple of cm that was missing). For now, it looks fine again. I'm still interested in what was going on, and how to properly handle it in case it happens again though. – tim Feb 28 '22 at 20:06
  • Was this in a glass vessel where you could see the water level without opening it, or in a ceramic crock that you had to take the lid off to check? I'm just wondering if the effect of the vegetables being a couple of centimeters above the water is because the vegetables got shoogled about a bit in the process of transferring the pot to the fridge. That seems like something that could happen if you are just looking in from above to judge rather than looking in through the sides of a glass jar. – Spagirl Mar 01 '22 at 08:57
  • @Spagirl it's glass, and everything was still covered in water after the transfer (as far as I remember). – tim Mar 01 '22 at 09:12
  • I don't have enough brain cells right now to write a full answer, but if you need to top off, always use brine, not plain water. Plain water on top could give other bacteria a chance to multiply before the existing salt/acid diffuses through it. Also try mashing the ferment down before adding anything, since it's possible the gas being released essentially inflated your ferment, lifting the veg out of the brine. (Don't panic though - kimchi's hard to ruin in my experience.) – kitukwfyer Mar 02 '22 at 01:22
  • @kitukwfyer thanks for your comment! If you want to make the first part into an answer, I'm sure to upvote it (and accept, if no other, more detailed answers come in). – tim Mar 02 '22 at 07:28

2 Answers2

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Pickling cabbage takes a minimum of three weeks. You will not have proper formation of enough lactic acid by the lacto basilicus micro organism in one week. This may have some health concerns or it may not but at the very least you will not have kimchi. Time is a very important factor in charcuterie

Also the process of osmosis is retarded if the water is cold. You are preserving the cabbage in the brine. You don't need to put it in the fridge. Also it seems your recipe weighs the salt in relation to the cabbage. This is not the correct way to do it.

You need to weigh the salt in relation to the volume of water in the brine 6 percent per liter of brine. This means 60 grams of fine salt per liter of brine. Weigh the salt, different brands of salt vary greatly in volume. This and three weeks fully emerged in the brine gives you sauerkraut/kimchi.

Neil Meyer
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    Thanks for your answer! Though I'm still looking for answers to my specific questions. Regarding your raised issues: The volume of water relates to the weight of the vegetables (the recipe doesn't call for any addition of water, it all comes from the vegetables; it seems that this isn't too unusual; some other recipes I found don't add any water as well). So I think that's why salt is given in relation to vegs, not water. Most recipes I found also don't call for storage outside the fridge for the full time (they say that it becomes too sour if fermentation isn't slowed down a bit). – tim Mar 02 '22 at 07:25
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Brain cells acquired, turning my comment into an answer:

The first thing you should do in a situation like this is to open the container and press the vegetables back down. As fermentation occurs, the active bacteria produce gas as well as acid. The gas will get trapped in pockets under the vegetables, and once enough pressure builds can lift the vegetables out of the brine. When the ferment is chilled, those air pockets will shrink, just a tiny bit. But due to friction or other forces, the vegetables might be stuck in place, and not be able to sink back into their original positions so easily. And so the brine "sinks" to fill the space instead, which causes the appearance of vanishing brine. Ideally, you shouldn't add anything to your ferment once it's under way (unless you're specifically doing a secondary ferment, which is totally different), so attempt to press first before you top off.

But if you do need to top off the liquid in order to keep everything submerged, always use a brine rather than plain water. Your fermenting vegetables are tightly packed, and adding plain water on top could give other undesired bacteria a chance to multiply before the existing salt/acid can diffuse through it. Not to mention that the plain water is going to leach salt away from the top layer of vegetables first, which is more likely to give you uneven results.

If your ferment doesn't call for a brine, a ~3% brine solution is generally reasonable, but if you dig a little you'll find plenty of recommendations.

kitukwfyer
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